Daughters of Kyoshi
by TheOnlyWayOut
Summary: Five years ago, all the Kyoshi warriors disappeared, except for one. Five years later, a young Suki finds the last warrior practicing in the woods. Thus starts the long, hard journey for Suki as she becomes a daughter of Kyoshi. A pre-series origin story. Now COMPLETE.
1. The Last Warrior

The Last Warrior

Disclaimer: Avatar: The Last Airbender belongs to Mike, Bryan and Nickelodeon.

Suki stared out her small attic window watching the sun rise, in awe of the spectacle. Most of the men in the village had already left in their boats to catch today's fish. Most of the women and children were still asleep. It was like the universe was putting on a show just for her. The streets of Kyoshi were empty, the village square was eeriely deserted.

Then, movement from outside caught Suki's attention. A shadow appeared, moving down the street, silent as just before dawn. The person- no young woman- slipped down the main street and started heading towards the woods. The sunlight reflected off of something shiny the woman had on her head. It was a warrior.

Trying to be sneaky, Suki padded shoeless out of her room and down the attic ladder. The Kyoshi warriors were amazing! Her mother had rocked Suki to sleep while telling her all the epic stories about Avatar Kyoshi, her daugher Koko, and the Kyoshi Warriors. Giving the cat a pat to keep it quiet, Suki walked downstairs, into the store and out of the house. The Kyoshi warrior was a rare sight as most of the girls had disappeared in the middle of the night a few years ago and never returned. There was only one left in the village, and she kept to herself, living in the dojo designated for the Kyoshi warriors. The only time she appeared in uniform was once a year on Kyoshi day. Suki remembered watching her do her warrior's fan dance. The last warrior moved swiftly and silently with a graceful power in every move she did. And she had to- she was the last warrior.

Sneaking from house to house, Suki followed the older girl.

The warrior, in full Kabuki makeup and armor disappeared into the woods surrounding the village. Scrambling though briars and brambles, Suki was sure she was in on something secret. Something interesting, she smiled. This town could use some excitement.

When the warrior reached a clearing, she stopped and stood in the middle of it. She closed her eyes, her arms limp at her sides and took a deep breath in and out. In. Out. Almost subconsciously, her hands started moving too. When the warrior inhaled, they lifted, and when she exhaled, they drooped.

Minutes passed and Suki wondered if anything would happen next. And, when she was about to leave, the warrior's eyes snapped open. And she started to dance.

Fans in her hands, the warrior, thrusted forward with all her might, full of grace and power. She thrusted again, her entire body leaning into the stance. Her fans moved as one weapon, one defending while the other attacked. The warrior began to circle, thrusting forward and retreating, fighting an imaginary opponent. And then... she stopped, turned around and stared directly at Suki.

"Come out, kiddo. I don't bite."

Suki froze. She had been so careful! She stood up and walked into the clearing, careful not show her embarassment of being caught.

"I wouldn't suggest wearing bright green if I was gonna spy on someone," The warrior said, nodding towards Suki's nightgown.

Suki looked down at her half dressed state."Oh."

"So, you found my little hiding space, huh? Guess I'll have to kill you now, since you've seen me work," the older girl drawled on, talking to Suki. She checked Suki up and down. "But, you don't look like a sqealer. Just don't go looking for me again." And with that last comment, the last Kyoshi warrior sheathed her fans in her armor's sash and started walking back to town.

Suki stared. The last warrior was... weird. She opened her mouth to call back to the warrior, but no words came out. She swallowed hard and yelled: "Wait!"

The warrior stopped on the edge of the clearing and turned around, an eyebrow raised. "Oh? So she does talk."

"Teach me." The younger girl said.

For a second, Suki thought, she looked suprised, but her face settled into an arrogant smirk as the warrior looked Suki up and down. "No."

"Why not?"

"You're like, five. You'll get your butt kicked."

The younger girl flared her nostrils. "I'm eight. And don't you need any help? You're the last Kyoshi warrior!"

"No."

"But-" Her face was earnest. She looked like a fighter, the older girl thought. Maybe at a different time, she could have joined.

"No," the older girl sighed and started her walk back towards town. "Kyoshi doesn't need the warriors anymore. So I don't need anybody anymore. Don't go peeking on me in the mornings, either. It's best Kyoshi forget her daugters." The last warrior shook her head, took one last look at Suki and disappeared into the woods, the only sign of her ever being there was a rustle of the bushes surrounding the clearing.

Suki sighed. So much for her heroes. Following suit, Suki headed back towards the shop. Time to sell some fish.

* * *

Ayame, the last warrior, sat crosslegged in the shrine of Kyoshi, trying and failing to meditate and get her mind off of that morning. Her breaths came in too shallow and they rushed out too fast. "This isn't working," she muttered, her eyes squeezed shut.

She went to the shrine of Kyoshi whenever she needed to calm down. It was an old, familliar place, where her warrior sisters had used to come to ask Kyoshi for guidance. They had told Ayame that Kyoshi's spirit still partially lived within this shrine. Some of the girls had even said that they had seen Kyoshi there. When Ayame had been younger, she had come here, put on Kyoshi's gigantic boots, and sat, in the corner, looking at the painting of the founding of Kyoshi, hoping for some advice and comfort. Somehow, just being close to her leader made Ayame feel better. Like Kyoshi was always there.

She inhaled and exhaled, shakily. She growled. Stupid relaxation. Stupid little girl. Why did she have to go and try to spread ideas like that? She felt the blood rush to her face and her heart rate began to accelerate. "Why isn't this working?" She screamed to the empty room.

"Maybe because you don't want it to," came a voice from inside the shine.

Ayame gasped and opened her eyes. She hadn't heard anyone come in.

In the middle of the room stood a giant woman. She stood high and proud, almost seven feet tall. Her hair was brown and pulled back. Her gloved hands gripped her golden fans and she wore a long, green dress, adorned with warrior's armor. Her regal face glared, covered with Kabuki makeup.

"Lady Kyoshi," Ayame whispered and bowed on her knees, her face touching the floor.

"Ayame," the village founder said.

"What do you want, my lady?" Ayame's voice was calm- submissive even, a far cry from her usual arrogant drawl.

"Ayame," the former Avatar repeated, her own face stony, "I need to show you something."

* * *

Leaning against the broom, Suki wiped the sweat off of her face. The mid-morning rush at the fish shop had just ended, leaving Suki and her mother to clean up the place. The summer sun was high in the sky and, even though the shop was indoors, the heat was not merciful. Suki crinkled her nose. The fish that hadn't been sold yet would start to reek in a few hours and her family would lose valuable merchandise. Suki muttered one of the words she had heard her father and his buddies say down at the docks. It seemed to sum up her situation quite well, although it elicited a gasp and a "Young lady!" from her mother.

"Okay," her mother said after she had stopped fanning herself with her hand, sweat dripping down her forehead, "this shop is closed for the rest of the day. It's not getting any cooler out and I won't have my home smelling like rotten fish." She started grabbing some buckets for the few remaining fish in the shop and filled them with the fish. "Here," she said to Suki, handing her the buckets, "Bring this to you father, down at the docks. He can use it for chum tomorrow."

"Gross," Suki said, sticking out her tongue. She gingerly walked to the door, and awkwardly opened it up with her elbow. "See you in a few, Ma."

A fresh breeze greeted her as she walked out the door. It sure was better than staying in the shop to smell the fish all day. Outside she could think without the ever present smell of fish bombarding her senses. Her mother had said she'd get used to it eventually but Suki never really had. She wanted to stay outside all day, letting the wind fill her nose, free from the fish smell for the rest of her life. She walked down the main road towards the docks. Like this morning, Suki thought, _she_ was free from that. Not that the warrior had been much help, but it was a thought, anyway. Suki shook herself. It was an amazing summer day and she was free from the fish shop for an entire afternoon! Why be so glum?

So, Suki walked down the shaded path down to the docks. They were right next the little cove where the giant koi lived. Passing by the beach, she heard the sounds of children splashing in the water. That sounded so fun! Suki made a mental note to tell her parents where she was going after she dropped of the chum. The sand on the beach was scorching and she hopped from foot to foot so as to not burn them.

"Help!" came a scream from the beach. "Help!"

Suki's heart jumped. What had happened? All the children on Kyoshi Island could swim because of the geography. Unless... no, it couldn't be. Nobody was _that_ stupid. And with that thought she started to sprint, chum buckets still in hand, down to the water. For the swimmer's sake, Suki hoped it was a riptide.

* * *

"Ayame," the Avatar Kyoshi said, "I need to show you something."

"What, my lady?" Ayame asked, her face still bowed so low, it was touching the floor. Was she in trouble? For what? The Island of Kyoshi did not need protection.

The Avatar did not answer. Ayame looked up, cautiously. The Avatar's transparent hand was pointed out the shrine's window.

"What?" She said, more impatiently. "Do the trees need trimming or something?" The hand still pointed. Getting up slowly, Ayame walked to the window and looked out. "It's just a view of the cove? What's so special?"

From where she stood she could see the beach, where little townschildren were playing. The water lapped calmly up the shore. It was completely normal. But then she saw a flash of a fin and a shiny black ripple in the cove. Right by there was a child in the water, too far out to be alone swimming.

"No," Ayame gasped. She turned around to see Kyoshi but she was gone. Not that it mattered. Ayame knew what needed to be done.

* * *

Suki sprinted towards the water, buckets still in hand. From the shoreline she could see the child flailing in the water, out past the cliffs surrounding the cove. Stupid, she thought, why'd he go out there on his own?

Quickly, she started taking off her clothes, ready to dive in. Even though she was only eight, she had been swimming since she could walk- maybe even earlier. She could save the kid. But then she saw a dark shape flash maybe ten meters from where the child was. The Unagi. Even Suki couldn't out swim that.

Then she looked at her chum buckets, then out at the cliffs that surrounded the cove. It was a crazy idea... but other choice did she have?

Picking up her buckets, and leaving her discarded clothes, Suki ran in her underpants up the path to town and towards the cliffs. Huffing, she reached the top. She hoped for the kid's sake that the plan worked. She held onto the bucket of fish and started to swing it in circle, building up speed. She let go when it had reached it maximum velocity and height. The bucket flew towards the creature in the water and landed a few meters away from where it was. Even from the cliff, Suki could see the fish and blood sliding out of the bucket and into the water. Please let it work, Suki prayed, please, please let it work.

And then, what had been just a dark shape in the water, rose the Unagi. It was so big that its face reached above the cliffs. It roared. Suki had heard some horrible stories from her father about the Unagi wrecking boats when it was angry, and now, Suki believed him. Its face was snarled and its whiskers whirled through the air like little whips. And its teeth- oh its teeth!- were giant and as sharp as katana.

But, although the Unagi was terrifying, Suki did not freeze. She thought she saw somthing out of the corner of the eye in the reflection of the chum bucket. A woman? But when she turned around she saw nothing. She snatched the second bucket, only leaving one left, and flung the bucket with all her might at the Unagi's head, hoping it would notice her instead of the meaty morsel of a child three stories beneath the cliff.

The bucket clanged off of the eel's head and it turned around with a hiss, it beady eyes looking straight at the girl's head. It reared back and Suki feared for her life. And as the head of imminent doom dove towards her, Suki snatched the last bucket of chum and flung its contents towards the monster's eyes.

It reared back, flailing, as the fish and fish guts stung the monster's eyes. Suki knew that she did not have much time before its eyes were cleared. She needed to save the kid.

Suki closed her eyes, mustering up the courage for what she knew she'd have to do. She took a deep breath in and out. In. Out. Her opened her eyes and with a roar she sprinted towards the side of the cliff, hoping that her father's boasts of cliff diving were true.

And she jumped. At first it felt... freeing. It was just her and the wind whipping her hair. And then she started to fall. Her stomach lurched upward and her hands were left behind as she plummeted towards the Unagi and the drowning child.

Splash! Her feet hit the water, slapping hard against the surface, followed quickly by the rest of her body. Her body felt numb and she could barely move her legs as resurfaced. Gasping for breath she started to swim limply towards the drowning child. She hoped that she had made enough time to rescue the child before the Unagi cleared its eyes. Suki grabbed the boy by his chest the best she could with her small arms and turned around, looking for the Unagi.

It was nowhere to be seen.

Relieved, but all together confused, Suki started to swim towards shore where a crowd had gathered, cheering. Suki stared. They were cheering for her! When she had gotten inside the bay-proper a rope was thrown towards her and the boy. Gratefully, she snatched it before it could sink and she was pulled to shore. Gasping, she collapsed on the beach, dropping the boy next to her. The sand felt good against her back and, her body finally catching up to after the fall, started to burn. Exhausted, her vision grew fuzzy as she stared up at the sky and at the crowd of people surrounding her...

* * *

When she opened her eyes again, she found herself in a darkened room.

"You had a lot of guts back there, kid," came a drawling voice from the shadows of the room.

"Who's there?" Suki hissed, still tired from the day's ordeal. As if in response, a candle was lit, illuminating the room- Suki's bedroom, as it turned out. A figure in the corner was also illuminated: the last Kyoshi Warrior.

"What do you want?" Suki groaned. The warrior looked at her from the corner of the room.

"I just wanted to congratulate you, that's all," she said, walking slowly into the middle of the room, swaying slightly in a way that reminded Suki of a cobra-python. "You know, only a few people have ever tried to tussle with Kyoshi's guard dog," the last warrior continued, "Legend says that the only person that actually tamed the Unagi was Kyoshi herself."

"But that means that that eel is three hundred years old," Suki retorted, despite herself.

"Hey, I dunno. That's just what legend says," the last warrior shrugged and made herself over to Suki's bed and took a long look at Suki's face. "Legend also says that the only one that had ever ridden the Unagi was Kyoshi's daugher. But she's dead, too." The older girl was staring. "I mean, the town keeps the Unagi at bay by feeding it every morning but that's not exactly taming it, now is it?"

"I guess not."

"So why, after years of feeding, does it just turn against the village?" The last warrior stepped away from the bed and stared out the window.

Suki rolled her eyes. What was she getting at? "It's not like the Unagi has ever been nice. Remember the fishing boats it sunk a few years ago? Maybe the Unagi was enjoying the sun in shallow waters and the kid was stupid and swam too close? It's not a pet. It's a wild animal!"

"I guess you're right," the older girl said, sitting on the foot of Suki's bed. "I wanted to ask you something. What's your name?"

"That's your question? How did you find my house if you didn't know my name?" She asked. The warrior looked the Suki in the eyes, one of the eyebrows raised. "My name is Suki."

"Suki, huh? My name's Ayame," Ayame replied. She reached down and pulled something out of her warrior's sash. They were two gold fans- just like Ayame's own. The older girl gripped the fans in her hands and then handed them over to Suki, properly with the gifts laying on her open palms and her head bowed.

Suki gasped as she received the gift. Then, suspiciously, she looked at Ayame. "What are these for?"

"Straight to the point, huh? No 'thank you, Ayame'?" She chuckled and shook her head. "I think we're gonna get along just fine."

"What do you mean 'get along'?"

"Suki? How would you like to be a daughter of Kyoshi? How would you like to become a Kyoshi Warrior?"

* * *

A/N: I hoped you all enjoyed the story. Suki's one of my favorite characters and certainly deserves her own adventure. This story may become multi-chaptered but, for now, will be considered completed and read as a oneshot. DFTBA.

Edit: I fixed a couple typos I caught just after I posted. Also, I learned from the Avatar Wiki that Suki started her warrior training at eight, instead of ten, so I fixed that too.


	2. Where Have My Sisters Gone?

Where Have My Sisters Gone?

Disclaimer: Avatar: the Last Airbender belongs to Mike, Bryan, and Nickelodeon

"Again.

"You're doing it wrong.

"Again.

"When you lunge make sure your weight moves smoothly, with your motions. Like this," Ayame said, walking around Suki, and checking out her form. It was way to early to be teaching this but the more time Ayame spent training with Suki, the better. When her young student was here, the dojo was less gloomy. Gripping her fans tightly, Ayame lunged in slow motion, and as her fan swept forward, she took a step, leaning her weight into the motion, her body shifting smoothly, as if she had her sea-legs on a boat.

Suki tried again, mimicking Ayame's form. "Now freeze," The older girl said. Suki stood dead still in her foreward lunge position. Ayame nudged Suki's back into a more upright position, and straightened her fan. "Good. Do it again."

Suki noded eagerly and lunged again. She had been training under Ayame for almost half a year now. Her birthday had passed and now she was a determinded nine-year-old. The training was hard work, but it was worth it. She had gotten so far! At the beginning of her training, Ayame only did breathing and streching exercises with her and had completely forbidden her from using her new fans. But finally, after going over the basic forms, Ayame had allowed Suki to start training with her weapons.

"Try reaching your arm out even farther. Again." Again. Suki sighed. Again had become Ayame's favorite word. It seemed like she never got tired of the idea. Suki remembered a particularly hard training session where the older girl had made Suki climb up and down the cliffs by the Unagi. "A good warrior has to have courage and strength," the older girl insisted while Suki grumbled about the needless danger of training so high up and so close to the Unagi. Then, Ayame had made her do it again because she was complaining. "A warrior never complains," the older girl had said. Suki wondered if half the time Ayame was just saying that to make Suki stop doing what annoyed her.

"Again." Suki lunged and her muscles burned and streched as the younger girl put all she had into the movement. Suki now understood why Ayame had made her breathe and stretch every morning. Suki wouldn't have been able to do these lunged for so long if she hadn't.

"Again." Sunlight started to stream through the cracks in the shades over the dojo's windows. It was daybreak. Suki would be let out of her training soon to help her parents in the fish shop. That had been her agreement with her parents: Suki was allowed to train if she helped in the fish shop in the mornings. Eagerly, she had agreed. An hour before daybreak to an hour after daybreak, Suki trained hard with Ayame, then went to the fish shop to work and eat. After noon, she would return to the dojo and train even more until dusk. Suki liked the afternoon training better. If she was lucky, Suki was usually able to coax out a story from her Sifu about the warriors or even Kyoshi herself. She would sit in awe as Ayame told the daring tales of heroic women who used their courage and intelligence to protect the village from outside threats. And that all would be Suki's responsibility, eventually.

"All right, your right lunge is looking good. Let's do your left," the older girl demonstrated the left hand lunge and nodded to Suki to start practicing too. "Again...good, now reach further with your left hand. Further. No, further. Remember, keep you back straight. Good," she said, finally pleased. "Again."

Ayame, turned her back and hid a grin. This girl's come far, the last warrior thought. She learned fast, at least. Every time Ayame had shown her something, she had absorbed her explanation and tried her best to mimic what the older girl had done. At this rate, Suki would be a full time warrior within a few years. Damn, I'm a good teacher, Ayame thought.

There was a knock at the the door. Ayame turned back around to Suki, who was practicing by the door to the dojo. Without really looking at her form, Ayame commanded, "Again," and headed to the door and opened it. "What do you want?" she asked to their early morning visitor.

In the doorway stood the town leader, Oyaji. His hair was still ruffled from sleep and his eyes were puffy as he addressed the young woman in the doorway: "Good morning to you too, Ayame. May I come in?"

The last warrior looked him up and down and muttered something that sounded like "man" and moved out of the doorway to let him in. The town leader looked around the dojo quietly and stationed himself right in the middle of the room. "I've come to talk to you, Ayame, about our little 'situation'."

She snorted, "What 'situation'?"

"The warrior situation. It's taken you five years for you to get one follower. How long are you going to take to rebuild our founder's legacy?"

"As long as I need to," Ayame retorted, folding her arms. Sneaking a glance over at her student, she saw Suki standing still, her ear cocked towards the conversers. "Again," she said to Suki.

Oyaji sighed and ran his fingers through his beard, a nervous habit that he had picked up from dealing with the Warriors. He blamed it on Ayame and her big mouth. "And how long is that exactly? Have you heard about Ba Sing Se? It has just come under siege! Ba Sing Se, Ayame! With its impenetrable walls? What happens when Ba Sing Se falls? We need some warriors, and we need them fast. Please Ayame? For Kyoshi?" he looked at her pleadingly.

"No."

"Are you serious?"

"Completely," Ayame came closer to Oyaji so that her nosey student couldn't hear. "I need girls that are willing to fight and are willing to work hard to gain the necessary skills. I don't need little pussies that aren't willing to get their hands dirty." Her voice, while still low, burst with intensity, "Do you know where any of those are?" Her eyes were narrowed, her voice, venomous.

"Not personally, no," Oyaji said, unintimidated. "But if you were to get outside the dojo and into the real world, I bet you would find some of those special girls," the town leader turned on his heel and headed towards the dojo's door. "You have two weeks to find a group of girls suited to be warriors. Two weeks mind, until I start sending little boys to become daughters of Kyoshi." The door slammed behind him.

Ayame swore. And then looked guiltily at Suki who had completely given up any act of practicing her forms. "Don't repeat that word," Ayame said to the little girl.

Suki shrugged. She had heard worse from father and his sailor buddies. "How are we gonna find some girls to join?"

"I dunno," Ayame shrugged. "Head on home now, your parents will be expecting you soon."

Suki nodded. And quickly left. She knew that if she stuck around, Ayame would be off in her own head anyway and Suki really didn't care to train under a distracted Sifu. "See ya this afternoon," Suki said, not really expecting a response as she turned towards the door, her muscles aching as she turned the knob.

Suki absentmindedly kicked a clod of dirt, walking down the path from the dojo and into the town proper. Two weeks to get a group of girls to become warriors? What was Oyaji thinking? Were there enough girls on this island willing to fight? Suki really didn't know. She had worked almost full time either in the fish shop or on the docks with her father, ever since she was little. Her mother had home schooled Suki too, as to keep up with this irregular schedule. Suki really didn't know many girls her age. Sure, she had talked to the other kids that had been dragged into her parents' fish shop and she always enjoyed a game of ball that the neighbor kids would play but Suki really didn't know many girls that played that game.

"Hey! Let go!" A voice traveled up the path, towards Suki. Another kid in distress? Suki wondered if it was just chance that she found trouble or if it was just the Spirits playing with her fate. A little of both, she decided as she jogged towards the girl's yelling voice. It didn't sound that desperate, so Suki didn't feel that rushed. How many times would she have to respond to cries of help?

But, judging the scene she ran in on, she wasn't too sure the voice needed to help. The speaker, maybe Suki's age, was in a full-out tug of war with her enemy, a boy also about their age. They were fighting with wooden swords, or rather they were fighting over a wooden sword.

"It's mine, Maru. Give it back!" The girl said pulling the blade towards her.

"Nuh-uh," the boy, Maru, replied. "Dad only let you play with it yesterday. It's mine." He tried to pull the sword back his way.

Suki was perplexed. Were they in trouble? And why were they playing out so early?

Maru and the girl just stood there, their feet digging into the ground and their hands pulling at the sword. These children were as stubborn as oxen-pigs. Then the girl smirked and pulled on the toy with all her might. The boy reciprocated, his entire back leaning into his position. And then the girl just let go.

"Ahhh!" The boy fell backwards, the sword in hand, straight into a mud puddle. The girl bent down and snatched the wooden sword out of his hand. "Victory!" The girl cried, raising the spoils over her head. "Aww, man," the boy grumbled.

Suki shrugged and headed down the road. Guess the girl didn't need her help. Maybe all the girls on Kyoshi aren't wimps like Ayame thought. Suki smiled, she'd like a couple other girls to share the wrath of Sifu Ayame.

"Hey wait up!" The girl ran up to Suki, her hands empty. "You're the one that's been training at the dojo with the warrior?"

Suki nodded. "Yeah, so?"

"I'm Yoko. You think I could join you guys?"

* * *

"Forty eight, forty nine, fifty." Ayame finished her set of pushups, and turned over onto her back for a brief pause. She was getting soft with all this training with the little girl. She needed to push. She wiped her face with a towel. Ayame was happy she wasn't wearing her makeup or it would have gotten horribly smudged. But she rarely wore her warrior's uniform, anyway. Maybe she should change that. She hopped up and on to two feet and snatched her fans and started to practice with those. Forward tumble, feign left, go right, circle enemy number one. Back kick to enemy number two. Her advanced forms were getting rusty. I really should do this more often, she thought, sadly. The village really did need more protection.

"Ayame!" Suki voice came up to her as she heard the girl run up the path. What was wrong? It was too early for her to return just yet. Ayame gripped her fans and crossed the dojo in two steps. She opened the door.

On the doorstep stood an out of breath Suki and a girl behind her, holding her knees in support. Danger? "Who's this?" The young woman asked, pointing an accusatory fan at the girl.

"Calm down. This is Yoko," Suki looked Ayame straight in the eyes. "She wants to be a warrior," Suki said, pointing to Yoko.

"Hey." Yoko waved.

Ayame sighed. She couldn't let just anyone join. "Come in," she waved a hand to the girls and they followed her into the dojo.

"Sit." Suki and Yoko sat without a word.

"Do you know why they Kyoshi warriors were created?" Ayame asked, her hand on her forehead, pacing up and down the length of the dojo.

"To protect the village," Suki answered.

"From whom?"

"Errr... threats?" Her student replied.

"More specifically?" There was a long pause.

"Men from the port?" The newcomer, Yoko, asked.

If Ayame was surprised that her own student didn't respond, it didn't show in her face. "Yes. And pray, tell why all the Kyoshi warriors are all women."

Silence. Ayame smirked. "Because instead of men who use their muscles here," she said, pointing to her arms, "women also have to use their muscles here," she pointed to her head. "You get it? I can't just let anyone in just because they want to."

"I thought it was because Kyoshi wanted to make a social statement about the capability of women," the new girl piped up.

_Another_ loudmouth wannabe warrior? "Speaking smart is not a requirement," Ayame muttered, reaching for her fans. "Thinking smart, however is." And, fast as a cheetah-cobra, she threw the fan towards her student.

Shock filled Suki's eyes and, reacting she ducked. The fan sailed over her head and into the wall behind her. Suki jumped up to her feet and grabbed her own fans, sliding into one of the basic fighting stances. Ayame lunged, a basic attack, towards Suki. Suki parried and started to circle Ayame. The older girl had all the advantages: reach, strength, knowledge, and seven years of training to boot. Ayame lunged again and Suki ducked and realized that she did have something.

Ayame was proud. Suki had reacted well and was doing the best she could. Best of all? Although Suki was at a major disadvantage, she did not run away, like a "smart" coward would. She was all warrior. They were circling each other now and she could see the gears in Suki's head turning. Then, her student jumped up and lunged with the ferocity of a wolf-bat, her feet sailing towards Ayame's chest. Surprised (she had taught Suki better form than that!), Ayame retreated a step. And fell over onto her back.

The village girl stood up where she had been kneeling on the ground to trip Ayame and she snatched Ayame's fans out of the warrior's hands. Suki walked over to Yoko and gave her a hig-five. "Fight smart, huh, Sifu?"

Ayame grinned. "That's why there is more than one warrior, so that everyone has everyone else's back," she sighed, picking herself up, and turned to Yoko, "Tomorrow, and hour before dawn. Get ready to sweat. I'll find some more victims later." And, with a nod of her head, the two girls left the dojo.

When the door had clicked shut, Ayame smacked her forehead hard with the palm of her hand. One simple spar and she was letting another trainee warrior in? Was she getting soft? It had taken a battle with the Unagi to allow Suki membership. Yes, she was totally going soft. Ayame chuckled. "I'm eighteen and I'm already getting too old for this," she muttered aloud, "What do you think, Kyoshi? Were my sisters this sentimental this early in their careers?"

There was no response.

I'm going crazy, Ayame thought. I need a drink.

* * *

Suki sighed in thanks as her back hit her bed. It had been one long, awesome day. She had really hit it off with Yoko. Within a few hours, the girls had really become... close. Was this friendship?

There was a tap at her window. Who was it this late at night? There was another tap. Suki groaned as she stood up and padded to the window and looked down. It was Yoko.

"Hey. Why are you here so late?"

"Well, we're warriors now, right? Let's protect this village!"

* * *

The port of Kyoshi looked out onto the ocean, its boats and docks reflecting off of the dark water. At this time of nighy, the docks were deserted, as all of the sailors were either in inns, their homes, or, most likely, in a bar or pub. The port was separated from the village itself by a few fields that most of the drunkards ended up sleeping in. Kyoshi was right, Suki reasoned, the port was where most of the danger to the village would come.

"So, where are we going?" whispered Suki as they crept through the field.

"To where the action is!" Yoko said, squirming with excitement.

"The port, you mean? I dunno. That place is full of tough guys. I've only been training for half a year and you've never fought before."

"We'll be fine. I'm smart, you're tough and the guys usually don't get that rowdy."

Suki shook her head, but smiled anyway. She was tough! "Okay, but let's try to remain unseen, okay?"

"Fine."

They crept to ju the outskirts of the port and found a back alley with a ladder up to the rooftop. It was empty besides a stray cat and a couple of overturned garbage bins. They climbed on to the roof and looked out.

The main street was light up with millions of street candles. Their light illuminated the hustle and bustle of the main street. Inebriated sailors sang slurred drinking songs, laughing at each other whenever they messed up the words. Women, with their breasts high and their Kimonos low, walked up and down the street, winking a painted eye at most of the men. Suki wondered what made those women take an interest in those men. Every other store was a bar or inn where you could find a hundred others like them.

"Wow!" They had never gone to the port at night before.

"Attention everyone!" called a man at a traveling stand, handing out flyers. "Are you brave at heart? Are you looking for adventure? How about the honor of protecting your country? The Earth Kingdom Navy needs you to join their ranks and end this horrible hundred year war!

"Hey there, young lady," called out the advertiser, "How would you like your boyfriend to be a decorated official?" he handed the young woman a flyer. "If he joins the army, he'll be rich and famous. Just imagine being the wife of a general."

"No."

"Excuse me, miss?"

"I said no," the young woman turned, so that Suki and Yoko could see her face. They gasped. "I won't you send anyone else. You took my sisters away." Ayame pointed a droopy hand at the advertiser. Her hair was disheveled and she shuffled as she walked. "You took them, you thief," she spat.

"I didn't take anyone, miss. Go home," the man said, batting away the hand.

"Home. My sisters used to be there," she turned around and started heading to the village but then she gasped and turned back to the man, "you took my sisters, you thief! You took them off to fight, you monster!"

"Dear, you are mistaken. The army doesn't take girls."

"Why I oughtta..." the young woman said, winding up a punch. Yoko looked at Suki and Suki nodded. They needed to stop this before it got out of hand.

Sliding down the ladder, the two girls ran into the street and up to Ayame, grabbing her arms so she wouldn't do anything. The older girl looked down at the two that were stopping her movement and said: "You two... I love you guys," before collapsing into their arms.

Suki looked up at the man with a "Sorry 'bout that," before dragging her Sifu away.

The man muttered something that sounded "mucky witch", whatever that meant, and allowed the two girls to drag the older on home.

* * *

As Suki went to bed for a second time that night, she wondered why Ayame was yelling to the advertiser. He apparently took her sisters, whatever that meant, she didn't know. But what Suki did know was that Ayame would not be waking up in the morning to recruit more warriors nor to train Yoko and her. It would be her first break since she started. Suki shook her head as she felt the ordeal of dragging Ayame's sleeping body back to the dojo in her arms. Ayame so owed her.

* * *

AN: Thanks so much for reading! I hope you liked it. So, I was looking at the traffic stats on this story and saw some people from Germany and Russia read my story. Isn't that amazing, that someone from halfway around the world is reading my story? So, please review and tell me where you call home and what you think of my little story. What would you like to see in the next few chapters? Until then, DFTBA.


	3. On A Cold Winter's Day

On A Cold Winter's Day

Disclaimer: Avatar: The Last Airbender belongs to Mike, Bryan, and Nickelodeon

An hour before the sun rose, Suki awoke. There was no danger, no disturbances, actually noises at all. Suki had awoke when she did because that was when she rose. Suki had risen at this at this hour for nearly four years and she wasn't going to stop now. She was Suki, a Kyoshi warrior, and she woke up before the fishes did so she could become the best warrior in her village. She smiled. 'Suki: Best Warrior in Her Village', had a nice ring to it.

Rolling off her bed and onto the floor, she began her morning push ups. She remembered when ten had been hard to do. 'Suki: the Infinite Push Up Doer' had a nice ring to it, too. She hopped out of her pajamas, into her day clothes and ran out the door. No reason to be late for practice.

The morning air was cold and steam rose out of mouth. Her feet left tracks in the light dusting of snow the village had received overnight. The route to the dojo from Suki's house was well worn and the patches of grass that Suki had to tread through early in her training had turned into narrow dirt trail, mapping out the direction of Suki's mornings.

The dojo was almost full when Suki reached it, with all the girls sitting on the floor in a circle, stretching. After Yoko had joined, Ayame had finally found the initiative to recruit other young girls. Some she had "accidentally" pushed off the cliffs to see if they would stomach it. Others would have to do all of Ayame's chores for a month. Some she fought, and others, if they had demanded it strongly enough, were let in for their guts. It resulted in a rather diverse group of girls.

Suki caught Yoko's eye and made her way over to Yoko's spot in the circle and plopped down next to her, "Good morning."

"Not yet," Yoko rubbed her eyes. Suki joined her stretching.

"Damn, I've a got a headache," Ayame grumbled as she made her entrance, a hand resting on the doornframe. All the girls looked up at her expectantly. She let out a melodramatic sigh. "What was I supposed to be teaching you guys today?"

"Intermediate katana plus fan formations," piped up Karin, a newer recruit. She was one of the girls who had done Ayame's chores for a month. "After we go through warm-ups though, obviously."

Ayame groaned, immaturely. "Nope, not with this headache."

"But we always-"

"Nope. I've got a better option: story time!" The sleepy girls' eyes brightened at the prospect. They loved to hear about Kyoshi's exploits. Ayame hated to talk about them, claiming that stupid stories shouldn't interfere with their training. But, every once and a while, they had coaxed a story out of her when she was like she was this morning: overtired with a splitting headache. Ever since the day Yoko joined, Ayame had had more and more days like this, but Suki didn't think much of it. She rather like the stories.

"All right, maggots," Ayame said, lowering herself onto the floor in the middle of the stretching circle, "it goes like this..."

* * *

"Kyoshi was the daughter of the earthbending instructor to the Earth King of Ba Sing Se himself. But, when she was twelve, like you girls, her father had displeased the king, who was sick, and her father was banished. As a result, he was shunned from seaport to seaport while looking for work, away from his daughter. Both he and Kyoshi were miserable at being separated, and she became determined to find him. So she ran away from home to search for her father. She set out for a place called Han To, a place full of banished men from the Earth Kingdom. Although she asked the fishermen to ferry her there, they all refused, since it was forbidden to visit anyone banished there.

"One night, she took a boat and sailed to Han To herself. She spent the night on the beach. The next morning while searching for her father she encountered a fisherman, whom she asked about her father. The fisherman replied he knew nothing, and warned her not to ask anyone else about his whereabouts. As a result, she was forced to eavesdrop on people's conversations, rather than simply asking them directly. Kyoshi could not gather any useful information this way.

"On one evening, she came upon a shrine for one of the local spirits, and after praying to him, collapsed and fell asleep. The sound of a girl crying woke her. She looked up to see a young girl and a priest. The priest led the girl to the edge of a cliff and would have pushed her off the edge, if it wasn't for the intervening of Kyoshi. The priest said he was going to sacrifice the girl in order to appease the angry water spirit, who demanded the annual sacrifice of a young girl. Kyoshi offered to take the girl's place, hopeless from not finding her father. After praying to the spirits again, she dove down into the ocean; fans (for she already had those) in her teeth.

"At the bottom of the ocean, Kyoshi found a mighty cave, in which was a statue. The statue was of the Earth King who banished her father, and she immediately decided to destroy it with some easy earthbending. However, thinking better of it, she tied it to herself and began to swim back with it. "Before she could leave the cave, a serpentine creature confronted her. Dauntlessly, Kyoshi first stabbed it in the eye with her fans, blinding it, and held her ground until the beast bowed to her in respect. When she arrived at the shore, the priest and girl carried her to town.

"Word of her heroic deed spread. The Earth King's unknown ailment had also suddenly been lifted. He realized that Kyoshi must have released him from a curse, because of what she did to the statue. He ordered the release of her father. And Kyoshi and her father returned to Ba Sing Se and lived a secure life.

"That is, until Kyoshi found out that she was the Avatar when she was sixteen and got a butt load of responsibility shoved at her.

"The end."

* * *

"Wait, what?" One of the girls asked.

"The end. Story's over," Ayame said from where she was lying on the floor, her hands folded over her eyes.

"No way. That's like how Suki defeated the Unagi! Kyoshi didn't do that," another girl piped up.

"Tell us more," another chimed in.

"Or, y'know, we could train," said the ever-nerdy Karin quietly, "'Cos that's, like, your job."

"No so loud," Ayame muttered, rubbing her temples. "For my sanity."

A gurgle came from their leader's stomach. "Oh, spirits!" Ayame turned green. "Hold that thought!" The girls watched as the leader of the warriors quickly hopped to her feet and ran out of the door. There were sounds of retching and of vomit hitting the bushes. In a few minutes, Ayame reentered, wiping her mouth on her sleeve. "Okay, class dismissed. Go waste your time being girly or something." She turned green again, cursed, and then dove back into the bushes again.

* * *

"Hey Suki," whispered a giggling Karin, "I think Maru's looking at you!"

"Is he?" She asked, taking a peek over at Yoko's brother where he was talking with some of his friends. She saw his eyes flick away from her direction as soon as she looked. The sides of her mouth twitched in a slight grin. "Heh. I think he is."

Sifu Ayame had told the girls to go do girly things, and so here they were, loitering in front of Suki's parent's shop, doing just that. They were just standing there gossiping. To an outsider, it must look hilarious to see trainee warriors actually being girls, but there they were, in a pack, giggling.

Yoko smiled. "That is so Maru. Don't worry he'll come over in a minute or so. And then he'll start teasing you."

And that he did. After a few nudges and pushes from his friends he hobbled over to where the warriors were standing, his hands stuffed deep in his pockets and his eyes looking everywhere but at Suki. He approached and then stopped. Rubbing the back of his neck with one hand he started, "Hey, so Suki, I was wondering if-"

"Suki! There you are, young lady!" A short, plump woman walked out of the fish shop and looked down her nose at Suki. "You were supposed to be back from training an hour ago!"

Suki gulped. She had gone toe-to-toe with the Unagi and she had barely handled an attacking Ayame but all the training in the world could not prepare her for the wrath of her mother.

"But I am training, mom," Suki said, thinking fast. "These are my fellow warriors, see, and Ayame told us to hang out as some training today." She grinned nervously.

"Well, that makes perfect sense," her mother said sarcastically."At least you can train with the warriors while doing some errands for me," she handed Suki a scroll. "I need two dozen eggs, and I need them fast! The fish cakes aren't going to bake themselves."

"Fish cakes?"

"New bid for customers. Buy three, get one free."

"But mom... we're the only fish shop in the village."

Her mother raised an eyebrow. "Then we need all the business we can get, right?" She looked over at Maru. "At least get out of the doorway, you're letting all the warm air out."

Suki sighed. "Two dozen eggs, got it." She turned on her heel and started heading towards the market, the other warriors in toe, like a miniature gang.

* * *

Ayame walked down the streets of the port, looking for an empty bar to cure her morning's ailment. She shivered as chilly winter winds from the ocean went through her clothes and froze her bones. Even though they were at the southern end of the Earth Kingdom, it almost never got this cold. It hadn't been this cold since a chilly winter's day almost nine years ago...

She had been eleven at the time, younger than her girls were now, Ayame realized. She was the baby of the group; she had been the smallest, the weakest and also the most stubborn. The other warriors had taken her down to the port for the first time as a warrior. They had shown her the drunks, the prostitutes, the beggars and the con men.

They had told her that they were the enemy of the village of Kyoshi. They were the danger. When Koko, Kyoshi's daughter had lead the village, a group of pirates had decided to go to the village proper, the Kyoshi warriors had been the only ones to defend it and keep it safe since. "That's gonna be your job, Ayame, when we're gone," the leader of the warriors, Takeshi had told her. Then she had lifted Ayame onto her shoulders (Ayame had protested, she may have been little but she was not a baby) and lead the warriors to one of the safer bars and ordered some hot tea. Ayame remembered how the steam rising from the cup looked like smoke from a dragon's nostrils. She had wondered why the Fire Nation had killed all of those fantastic creatures. She had really wanted to ride one. If she had her way, the Fire Nation would pay for that.

She had asked the other warriors why Kyoshi hadn't decided to send their warriors to the war. Takeshi grimaced and looked at the other girls before responding, "The council doesn't want Kyoshi's daughters to be harmed." With that, she and the other warriors got up, left some money on the table and left the bar. Ayame had jumped up to join them but they had already disappeared down the street.

Ayame remembered going home that day and then waking up the next morning for training. But when she had entered the dojo, ready to hear all the early morning chatter, there was silence. She had searched the island up and down, looking for the warriors but they were no where to be found. In the dojo, their armor was neatly stored in the lockers like always. Desparately, Ayame had broke into Takeshi's house and found her only clue: an Earth Kingdom military flyer.

For days, years more like, Ayame had holed herself up in the dojo, training and talking to no one. She realized now that Takeshi had been as old as she was now when she left. Ayame realized her time was running out. By now was Takeshi even alive?

Ayame had arrived in front of the bar. It had been the same one that Takeshi and the other warriors had taken her to, all those years ago.

"Are you a brave man? Do you want to bring honor to your homeland?" yelled a man at a Earth Kingdom recruitment booth. It was not the same man that had been there when Ayame had blamed him for taking her sisters. That man had been conscripted, while he was old he was not useless. The new barker was a young man that had only one arm. He had lost the other in a battle and had been shipped home.

Ayame walked up to the booth. "I'm brave."

The young man looked taken aback, "I'm sure you are."

"Can I join?" She asked, a alligator-shark smile tugging at her lips.

"Sorry ma'm. Women aren't allowed. I can let you apply for a desk job..." His tone was polite, she decided. Still...

"Can I at least have a flyer?" She was handed one.

"Thank you."

She started towards the bar again and then stopped. No time for drinks, she thought. She wanted this to be as fast and painless as possible.

* * *

Suki walked home, laden with the eggs. The farmer had given her a funny look when she said "fish cakes" but handed them to her anyway. She was paying, so he didn't pry. The rest of the warriors walked around her, their heads held high and their tongues out, trying to catch the newly falling snowflakes.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a figure dart between two buildings on the main street. She shook her head, probably nothing, just some kids playing and then...

SPLAT!

A snowball flew out of nowhere and hit her smack on the head. There was a chuckle and then a barrage of snowballs were sent towards the young warriors. Suki recognised the chuckle- Maru. She was gonna kill that kid.

The girls formed a circle around Suki and then started preparing ammo. They had to protect the goods that their sister was carrying.

A battle ensued, snowballs flying free and wild. The little balls hit shop windows, women shopping, fruit carts, pet dog, reall anything that hadn't run away from the full-out snow war. The warriors were doing a very good job of protecting their objective; not a single egg was cracked. And then a desperate throw from Maru flew, straight and true, past the diligent guard of her sisters. The snowball hit one of the cartons of eggs Suki was carrying with a crunching sound. Yellow yolk oozed out of it and on to her clothes. That did it!

Opening the remaining carton of eggs, Suki started flinging them at the boys, laughing like a maniac. They dove for cover underneath fruit carts and the sides of buildings. Anything to get away from the ruthless onslaught of white miniature grenades.

"Enough!"

Shocked the children stopped. What was wrong?

Oyaji made his way to the middle of the village square, brushing snow our of his hair and beard."Enough," he repeated. "What is the meaning of this? Do you not realize what you did?"

The shop doors were closed, with many traces of snowball smeared all over their windows and doors. Fruit carts were overturned from the attacking boys. There was no one in the street other than the warriors and the increasingly irate Oyaji. Maru and his friends had sprinted out of the square as soon as they had seen the town leader.

"Can you really be this reckless? Look at the damage!" Oyaji's words burned with anger. Suki hung her head in shame. They were just having fun...

"It's my fault, Oyaji," Suki said, walking toward the village leader before bowing low before him. "I am sorry."

"Suki..." Oyaji's face softened. "I thought Ayame taught you better than this. All of you," he said adressing the warriors. "You know the council never wanted Ayame solely in charge. But I stuck my neck out for her. You know how much leverage they have! And with a stunt like this," he sighed, running his fingers through his beard," I dunno if I'll be able to stand up for you girls much longer."

"We'll clean it up," Yoko offered, walking up next to her friend. "We are sorry."

Karin and the rest of the warriors came up behind Suki and Yoko and bowed their heads too in respect.

"What is this?" A voice came from behind them. The girls turned. Walking up from the path to the port was a young woman with a piece of paper clutched in her hand.

It was Ayame. "You're supposed to protect the village one day, not destroy it," their leader said softly, moving slowly closer to them. She shook her head, intense eyes blazing. And a this scared the girls more than Oyaji's outburst. This was not the anger the girls were used to, instead of hot it was as cold as the snow that blew around them. She was more angry than they had ever seen her.

"Dojo. Now," their leader said, through gritted teeth, pointing in its general direction.

"But-" Oyaji spluttered.

"Now," she turned to him, "I'll take complete responsibility for this." Suki frowned. Why was she taking the blame?

"But it's our fault," Suki yelled to Ayame.

"Dojo. Now." The last warrior did not look at her.

"Come on," Yoko grabbed Suki's arm. "You're crazy if you think she'll listen to you like that."

The pack of girls headed towards the dojo, defeated.

* * *

"Ayame," Oyaji said when the girls had disappeared down the path, "you know you'll probably lose your position. The council has been waiting for an opportunity just like this. I understand it must be hard to supervise so many young girls and if you need help..."

Ayame turned away. "Just let me take the punishment," she said pointedly. "I can take it."

"I know you can take it, Ayame," she winced at his use of her name, " I just don't think the girls can."

Ayame glared at him. "They can take a lot more than you know," she said.

"They're only girls!" The leader shouted.

"I was younger than they were when my sisters left," Ayame snarled. "I know what a _warrior_ that age can handle."

"They're not warriors."

"And they won't be if the council takes me away," Ayame turned on her heel and started walking towards the dojo. "Tell them it's my fault and that I'll pay for the damages."

"But-"

"Help! Help!" The voice of a child came up from the direction of the Unagi's bay. A young boy appeared over the top of the hill, panting. "There are ships, headed straight for the village!"

Ayame turned around and looked at Oyaji. Oyaji was pale and he looked at Ayame and nodded. Ayame sprinted off to the cliffs to get a good look at the boats.

Wind whipped her hair as she stood right at the edge of one of the cliffs, looking out at the approaching boats. She gasped.

"Pirates."

* * *

AN: The legend that Ayame told of Kyoshi was based on the Japanese legend of Tokoyo, the woman that supposedly Tokyo is named after. As for the old leader of the warriors, Takeshi, I know it's a boy's name, but I couldn't resist. Takeshi means "warrior" in Japanese and it was so appropriate, I had to add it in. So, what did you guys think? Next time on Daughters of Kyoshi: The girls will have to battle their greatest enemy yet: Pirates! Until then, see you all later!


	4. Show No Fear

Show No Fear

Disclaimer: Avatar: the Last Wirbender belongs to Bryan, Mike and Nickelodeon

"Pirates," Ayame gasped, looking out at the ships. They were maybe twenty minutes from reaching the shore, but even from this distance, the warrior could tell that they were no scout boats. These ships were massive, with the biggest of them all hanging out at the back of the fleet. The flagship.

Ayame fell to her knees at the edge of the cliff. This was... insane. She had never seen such a threat to Kyoshi. She had never even heard of such a possibility. What had instigated such an attack? In all her knowledge of Kyoshi lore, the island had never been in that much danger. Had that made Kyoshi weak? Was she vulnerable?

Ayame let a sob leave her mouth before clamping it tight shut. Not now, she thought. Warriors did not cry like little girls. She wasn t weak. She was the last warrior. Her sisters before her wouldn't have hesitated to protect the village, even at the incredibly horrible odds. Takeshi would have laughed at her hesitation. She would have smacked Ayame upside the head and reminded her that the warrior's first duty was to protect Kyoshi from her enemies. Ayame knew that. Was that her fate? To die protecting her village?

Ayame picked herself up off the ground and started walking towards the dojo. The snow fall was picking up, flurries of snow flying into her eyes, the wind blowing her hair all about as she walked through the town square. This was her home, dammit. This was her job.

She started to run. If her fate was about to come get her, it had better be ready to take her kicking and screaming. This was her island and she wouldn't forget that.

* * *

Suki sat on the floor of the dojo with the rest of the warriors. They had been sent up there after their little snow fight to receive a lecture from Ayame. But their leader wasn't here and Suki was growing impatient. She shifted nervously in her seat, her bottom damp from the snow. The egg yolks from the snow battle had drenched her hair and clothes. Some had even pooled up in her boots, making her feet squelch when she wiggled her toes.

The door to the dojo opened with a gust of wind and a flurry of snow. It slammed shut and Ayame made her away across the dojo floor and into a sideroom where the girls changed into and stored their armor. That door slammed shut too.

Suki looked at Yoko. That was not a good sign.

Suki stood up and knocked at the side door.

A muffled reply of "go home," was returned.

Suki opened the door quietly and slipped into the low-lit room. Ayame was on a bench situated between the lockers holding a set of warrior's armor, her back to Suki.

"I told you to go home. Get your family and go for the port." She didn't turn around.

"What?" Suki stopped, still in the doorway.

"A fleet of pirate ships. They are headed towards the village," she sighed. "Get the other girls, tell them to take their families and go towards the port." Ayame said.

"No."

Ayame turned around, irritated. "Why are you stealing my lines from me, kiddo? I'm the one that always says "no"."

Suki closed the door and walked towards her leader. "Because it's suicide," the younger girl answered.

"Who said I was gonna fight?"

Suki bit her lip, her eyes narrowing. Ayame never got subtle hints. "Oh, I'm sorry," Suki said, trying her best to imitate Ayame's brash manner, trying to direct her leader, "so you're setting out warrior's armor for the spider-flies are you? That makes perfect sense."

"You all are too young to fight," their leader replied, her tone resigned. There was no sign of her usual snarky reply.

"That's what you said when I was eight."

"It's still true. If I can't save Kyoshi, you all can at least save her people."

"You're a hypocrite."

"What are you talking about?"

"This," Suki said, walking up to Ayame's uniform, picking it up and pointing. "You said that the silk threads symbolize the brave blood that flows through our veins. You told us the gold insignia represents the honor of the warrior's heart. We are warriors. Let us fight."

"But-"

Suki sighed and put her hands on her hips. "Are you really gonna argue with pirates minutes away from our shore?"

Ayame stopped. "You're getting too smart for your own good, kiddo."

"And I intend to stay that way. I've got an idea," Suki opened her locker and pulled out a tin of dark facepaint. "I need the key to the shrine of Kyoshi."

* * *

"Listen up, girls," Ayame said, walking out of the sideroom and standing in the front of the dojo, "Pirates are coming for Kyoshi." There was a collective gasp in the room.

"But there is no need to worry. After tonight, as far as I'm concerned, you guys are fully fledged warriors," she paused. "It's gonna be hard tonight. The enemy will be ruthless but I believe that you can handle them. You are daughters of Kyoshi, after all." She started pacing up and down.

"So, what do I want you to do tonight? I want you to fight with everything you have. I want you to show no fear. A warrior is strong. A warrior is brave. But a warrior is also smart. You'll need your sisters tonight. I don't want any of you to lose your sisters to the Spirit World. Please, have each other's back out there."

Ayame pulled out some incense and put it to a candle, igniting the tips. The musky smell started to diffuse around the room. "Let's bow our heads and ask Avatar Kyoshi for our help and guidance."

As one, the girls bowed silently.

"Lady Kyoshi. There is a danger to your island and we need to stop it. Please, Lady Kyoshi, watch over your daughters tonight as they become true warriors. Please give us strength when we are weakening and please give us inspiration for when we are hopeless. We are here to serve and protect our village. Please, Lady Kyoshi, come to our aid."

The sky was darkening and the wind called out to them from inside the dojo.

"It's time," Ayame said to her sisters. "Suit up."

* * *

The sun was setting to the back of the Kyoshi warriors as they hid in the bushes and trees surrounding the beach. Or, at least, they knew it would be if it wasn't cloudy and flurrying. Visibility was down, which was a good thing for the warriors. They watched the approaching ships head for the beach, bisecting the two cliffs that surrounded it. From where the ships would land, the cliffs were too far away for the pirates to crash into.

The rising tide rushed in and out as the anticipation rose. There was one giant wake, and then the sound of ships scraping against the sand. A slight thump from the ships hitting the shore was all the signal the warriors needed.

Out of one of the bushes came a bird cry. The signal meant to ready their fans. Ropes flew off the sides of the boats and the gang plank thunked to the sandy floor. With a roar, the invaders slid down the ropes and sprinted off the gang plank, brandishing swords and gripping torches.

Then there was a flash of gold and a loud, squelching thunk as a warrior's fan hit one of the pirates square in the forehead. The victim collapsed into the crowd of advancing pirates, unseen and ignored by his fellows. And, as with the first fan, a volley of them came flying out of the bushes.

The pirates were starting to catch on and they rushed towards the bushes. If the unknown attacker was throwing fans at a distance, they couldn't be much use in close range, could they?

Ayame watched from the shrubbery. There were only a few girls close by to where she was. Ayame gripped her katana, ready for the onslaught of pirates that were headed towards her.

And they came. Crashing through the small barrier of trees, the pirates entered. Ayame drew her sword and stood there with her students side to side, waiting and listening for the berserkers' movement.

The pirates that entered the clearing paused for a moment obviously confused at the sight of the warriors.

"Never give up without a fight," Ayame whispered to her girls. Then, the pirates charged. Great plan, Ayame tsked, catching a hog-monkey-faced pirate's arm as he tried to swipe at her face, just go straight through, I bet that'll work. She twisted the pirate's arm behind his back and kicked him, sending him toppling into a group of the men, knocking them over.

As soon as the disabled invader's position was emptied, however, another pirate came to fill in the gap. This one was quickly disabled with a quick smack against his head with the butt of her katana.

But there were so many of them and another took his place.

This isn't looking good, Ayame thought as she swiped at the new pirate with her sword. How many of them were there? Ayame looked around to see her girls tiring. They were performing so well! If I do say so myself, she smirked. Then with a yelp, she ducked, narrowly missing a mace that had been swung at her head. Quickly taking advantage of his exposed side, Ayame slashed with her sword, making sure that his arm wouldn't be able to be used properly.

Then there was a high pitched scream to Ayame's left and she dared a glance. Noa was still fighting, so were Misa and Sakura... then who... Ayame saw Karin fiercely fighting with one arm. The other was swinging limply, an arrow pinning it to her side. Her face was pale and her uniform was stained a dark color.

Ayame bit her lip and continued fighting. There was nothing she could do now. She had to just... keep fighting. She took a deep breath. Lunge forward, feign left, go right and kick that sucker in the ribcage. Good. Now slash left...

Ayame wondered how long it would take for this all to end.

* * *

Suki stood on the edge of the cliff, the wind whipping her hair, looking into the black ocean. How was she supposed to do this? She held Kyoshi's fans up and looked at them. Maybe there are instructions written on it, she thought. But of course there was nothing.

Sighing, she sat down on the edge of the cliff, her feet dangling off of the edge. How was her plan going to work if she couldn't figure out how to make it work? She had seen the ships land a few minutes ago and watched as they advanced into the trees and would probably work their was up the narrow slope to the village.

Her plan had been to somehow summon the spirit of Kyoshi to help them. She had heard legends about that happening when she was young; when the village had really needed help, Kyoshi had come from beyond the grave to help the village. Stupid legends, Suki thought, the legends were just stories.

Stories... Suki stood up. Maybe this would work? Holding the fans out, above the water, she dropped the original fans from Kyoshi herself. They toppled down, down, down, into the ocean. As they fell, Suki swore she saw the face of a woman reflected onto one of the fans. But when she looked again, she saw nothing. The fans landed in the water with a faint splash. And Suki waited for something to happen.

* * *

Ayame growled audibly as yet another pirate pushed her farther back towards her village. The girls had already been pushed back even further up the path towards the village. They were now fighting on a steep slope, and while the girls had the upper ground, they were still massively outnumbered. Some of the warriors from other positions from their initial ambush had joined Ayame and her group but the girls were tiring and every time one pirate disappeared, another one took his place. Where were the rest of the warriors?

The slope was at its steepest, with loose dirt sliding beneath everyone's feet. Ginning devilishly, Ayame easily pushed a pirate down the hill. He finally stopped after he landed on the shoreline. She stomped on one of her attacker's feet and then threw the other into the crowd of pirates. What she wouldn't give to have her fans on her. They helped more with group fighting than her sword did. She did not want to damage one of her teammates by mistake.

Then, one of her attackers still down, Ayame felt a sharp pain in her hand. She sucked in a breath and looked down. An arrow had grazed the palm of her hand, ripping her warrior's glove. Archer! It must the one that had shot Karin. Where was he?

Looking around while catching a kick from one of the pirates she saw a dark shadow in one of the trees. Bastard! Too cowardly to shoot someone outright, was he? He had to go down! Ayame growled again but knew that she couldn't break rank; the pirates would reach the village if she did.

There was a rumble from behind Ayame and the pirate's eyes widened.

"Rockslide!" One of them yelled. They started to run down the slope. Ayame frowned and turned around. True enough, she saw several boulders rolling down the hill, gaining speed every meter. They would be crushed!

It was times like these that Ayame wished that she was an earthbender...

* * *

Suki watched the fans hit the water, and then sink, only leaving ripples in the water. And soon enough, even the ripples disappeared.

Nothing happened.

Suki stood there. And, like when the four-hundred-year-old fans had disappeared into the water, Suki's composure did too. She bit her lip and her shoulders shook. Would Kyoshi neglect her people?

Sniffing and wiping her eyes, Suki stood up and turned around, ready to head towards the battle, ready to face whatever. If there's no more Kyoshi, Suki thought bitterly, at least I won't have to face Ayame's wrath for losing the fans.

She walked slowly away and then started jogging. She didn't need to drag this out.

Then, a rushing sound came from behind her followed swiftly by a resinous roar.

Suki whipped around and saw a large, dark form rising out of the water. Her eyes lit up as she saw the giant eel's body shoot skyward.

"Kyoshi's guard-dog."

* * *

AN: Sorry for the shorter chapter, the battle between the pirates was getting too long and I decided to split it in two. What did you all think? Next time: Will Ayame and the Warriors survive the rock slide? Will Suki ever get Kyoshi's fans back? What's the Unagi doing here? Find out next time! Till then.


	5. Into The Night

Into The Night

Disclaimer: Avatar: the Last Airbender belongs to Mike, Bryan and Nickelodeon

"Kyoshi's guard-dog."

The Unagi roared. Suki's eyes widened and she stood very still. Maybe it hadn t seen her. She squeezed her eyes shut and thought of the few prayers her mother had taught her and manically prayed to the spirits for help.

The roaring suddenly stopped. Suki was taken aback, that had actually worked? The giant eel started sniffing the air, its whiskers swaying as it moved its head around. Suki saw its eyes and suddenly knew why it hadn't eaten her on the spot. It couldn't see her. Its eyes were half closed and around it was a dark scar tissue, shaped like slashes, perhaps froma knife. Its milky white eyes were out of focus and almost glowed in the dark. This Unagi was blind.

Suki smacked herself across the forhead. How hadn t she noticed that the Unagi was blind? Walking closer to the cliff-side, Suki silently slipped out her fans from their sheaths. Now was not the time for a rematch with the Unagi. She wound back, ready to strike when her foot stepped on a twig with a resinous snap.

The Unagi turned its giant head, its sightless eyes fixed on her position. Suki swore.

* * *

Ayame swore. A rock slide? Seriously? Were they trying to kill her?

The boulders were rolling down the steep slope straight down to the beach and straight towards her and some of the warriors.

The pirates had run, screaming down the hill, babbling something about "Kyoshi's ghost!", trying to out-run the tumbling. Ayame let out a harsh bark of laughter and turned around to size boulders up.

Her eyes locked on a smaller rock tumbling down the hill. Ayame started out in a loping jog, then sped into a full fledged sprint right towards the rock. Timing it just right, she jumped and planting her hands on the rolling rock and launched herself over it. She landed on the ground, did a summersault and stood up. She turned around and saw that her students had also managed to circumvent the rocks, one way or another. They were panting and looked up at her expectantly.

"What are you pansies waiting for?" She yelled at them. "Get the pirates!"

They looked at her, nodded and sprinted down the slope towards the pirates. Ayame turned up to the slope.

"Yoko! Jin-Jing! Bunko! Get a move on!" She said shouting to the rock-a-launche creators. From the over top of the hill appeared the aforementioned girls.

"But Sifu-"

"Really? We are being invaded by pirates and you re complaining about being tired? Nice idea with the boulders, though."

"Thanks," Yoko grinned and high-fived Jin-Jing and Bunko. "It was my idea, you know."

"Yoko-"

"Fine, fine. We're going already."

Ayame grinned and ran down the hill after the pirates with the remaining girls. Now just to stop them from leaving...

* * *

Frozen to her spot, Suki looked into the Unagi's dull eyes. Somehow, all those years ago, she hadn't froze up. But she was stuck in her spot now. The Unagi looked hungry.

The Unagi stayed where it was too, its head straight tall on its neck. It cocked its head to one side, as if listening to something for a minute. Suki stared.

The Unagi, straightened itself and bowed its head toward Suki. Making herself move, Suki forced her one leg in front of the other and looked up at the giant eel, deciding it might not attack.

"You're Kyoshi s guard-dog, right, Unagi?" She walked up closer to the eel and reached out an open hand. Her heart raced and breathing was shallow. What if it decided her arm was a tasty snack?

The Unagi did nothing. Suki supposed that was good.

"There are pirates attacking Kyoshi. Can you help me?" She felt really silly trying to reason with a wild animal.

The Unagi just stayed there, it head bowed, and then it looked at Suki. It hissed and then lunged. Suki gasped. It snatched her up in its teeth and threw her up, high in the air. She fell right atop the eel s head.

"I think that's a good sign," Suki gasped, winded, picking herself off of her back and into a standing position on the Unagi s head. With another hiss, the eel sped off again, the sudden acceleration knocking Suki back onto her knees.

The Unagi was fast. Suki's hair whipped around as she tried to hold onto one of the long spines sticking out of the eel. Her father had once told her stories about when he was young and had went surfing on the giant koi. Wait 'till he hears about this, Suki grinned.

Adjusting to the speed, Suki slowly lifted herself up to her feet and gripped the eel's spine. She spread her legs and bent her knees, trying to keep her balance. It was exhilarating. If the village wasn t going to be pillaged and then burnt to the ground, Suki would have said she was having the time of her life.

The pirate ships that had landed in the middle of the shore suddenly were close. Suki looked behind her and saw how far the cliff was. The Unagi was definitely fast.

Suki then looked to the shore. She frowned. There was no one on the beach.

Then, she heard a rumble and some screams.

"Kyoshi's ghost!" A pirate yelled as he ran down to the shore. Giant boulders were following the pirates as they ran down towards the , following the rocks she saw the warriors swooping down the hill after the boulders and the pirates. "Kyoshi's ghost, eh?" She snickered. Seems like they fell for Yoko's trap.

The pirates were cowering and crowding, trying to get back onto the boats.

The tallest warrior stepped forward. "I wouldn't do that if I were you!" She shouted to the pirates.

Looking at Suki and then at the Unagi, Ayame smirked. "Taking the Unagi out for a little ride, are we now, kiddo?"

At the word Unagi the pirates stopped and turned around from where they had been trying to disembark on their ships. Tales of the infamous guard-dog of Kyoshi had been spread from the Southern Water Tribe all the way to the North Port.

Suki leaned down and stroked the sea monster's neck. "Now would be a nice time to start trashing some pirate ships," she whispered into its ear.

The Unagi roared enthusiastically and lunged for the nearest one. The pirates screamed and jumped off of the ship and into the shallow water.

With a quick nod of her head, Ayame tore off the green sash on her armor and tied up two of the pirates. The rest of the girls followed suit.

In a matter of minutes, the pirates were tied up and their ships destroyed.

Ayame smiled. She couldn t have wished for better. Swiftly picking out the captain (he was the one with the biggest hat), she dragged him to the side and slammed his face into a tree.

"Tell me," she growled. "Tell me why you thought it was okay to threaten the village of Kyoshi?"

The captain groaned. She pushed his face farther into the tree. "We were told it was unprotected," he answered his voice slightly muffled, as he was talking into a tree.

"Who told you this?"

"We heard it. Heard there were no more warriors. We had stopped in Chin to refuel and then-"

"Chin?" Ayame chuckled. "Chin. Those pansies?" She started to laugh. "They sent pirates to take down the best warriors in the world?" Her shoulders were shaking from the force of her laughter.

"Chin! Seriously! Well, you know what Mr. Pirate? I think me and my warriors want to send them a gift. Will you guys help deliver?"

Ayame was still laughing as she motioned for the other girls to grab hold of the pirates and threaten them at katana-point to keep moving, leaving Suki, the Unagi and the now-wrecked pirate ships behind. Oh, Chin was in for a surprise.

* * *

The fireworks boomed over the village of Kyoshi as children holding skewers of food danced and played under the moon. After the failed pirate invasion, Oyaji had decided to throw a festival in the honor of the return of the Kyoshi warriors and their successful protection of their village.

The warriors were in the middle of all the celebration, wearing their full armor and face paint, shaking hands, dancing and playing warrior tag with some of the young local girls.

"I've got to admit, Ayame," Oyaji said, making his way over to where Ayame was sitting, eating, "you did good out there."

"Naturally," Ayame said, her mouth full of food. She swallowed and continued, "I trained them, after all. This chicken is soo good." She took another bite.

"Good. That's good," Oyaji fidgeted. "The council will be off your back then, at least for the moment."

"Mmmm," she noded. "Chicken?" She offered the half eaten piece of chicken to Oyaji.

"Err, no thanks," the village leader said, waving his hand. "But the council of elders has been talking..."

Ayame's eyes narrowed. She swallowed and wiped her hands on her warrior's dress. "Talking about what?"

"Your betrothal. You know, most girls your age are getting married." Oyaji started running his fingers through is beard, his voice shaking a little with nerves. "The council thinks that it s about time you started pro-creating."

"Pro-creating?" Ayame said. "I'm twenty one. It s not like I'm an old maid."

"The council has been nagging me about a suitable replacement for you as well," Oyaji quickly added in, hoping that he would get to say everything he wanted to before the shrew stormed off. "They were thinking about Chuntao..." his voice trailed off.

"Chuntao? She's ancient. She was probably still alive when Avatar Kyoshi was!"

"It was not my decision. She was a warrior too, though. At one point or another," he added. Chintao was really old.

Ayame stood up and grabbed her plate. "No. They're my girls."

"Ayame-" Oyaji sighed.

Ayame stomped away a few paces and then stopped. Her proud shoulders drooped and her hung her head a little. With a melodramatic sigh that Oyaji could hear from where he was, she turned around slowly and then walked back to him.

"Suki," she said. "I want Suki to lead the next batch of warriors."

Oyaji nodded slowly, what had gotten into her? Ayame looked away, bit her lip and then looked back at Oyaji s face.

"I'm sorry Oyaji, for everything. I'm sorry I was mean to you and I'm sorry that I purposely made your life more difficult. Suki's ready to be a leader."

Oyaji didn t speak for a second. "You are welcome. You know, Ayame, you've become a good leader. Takeshi would have been proud. I'm sure Suki will grow into the role."

Ayame nodded and started to leave again, weaving her way through dancing people, running children and the diners.

"Good-bye, Ayame," Oyaji said, softly, as the band struck up a merry drinking song.

* * *

"Ask him," Bunko said giggling.

"No, I can't, you ask him," Sakura blushed and poked Jin-Jing in the ribs.

"Eeww! Maru? No way. Noa?"

"Well, he is kinda cute..."

"Isn't he your cousin, Noa?" Misa piped up.

"He looks like a good kisser..." Noa muttered.

"Gross! That's my brother you're talking about!" Yoko said, pitching in. The younger warriors were standing on the outskirts of the dance floor, looking over at Maru and his gang. Each were trying to pick up the courage to ask for a dance and all were failing miserably. Something about having the courage to battle pirates didn t translate to other parts of their lives.

"Suki? How about you?"

Suki looked up from where she was sitting, playing around with a plate of food. "Maru? Are you guys really gonna go there? He got us in trouble with the council."

"Fine, whatever." Yoko turned to Karin. "Karin? How about you?"

Karin turned a hot pink and looked away.

"Awwww. Is someone shy? I bet you never kissed a boy before have you, Karin?" Yoko teased.

Karin looked down and turned even redder still.

"I knew it- ow! Hey!" Jin-Jing had just smacked Yoko across the back of the head.

"Neither have you, Yoko."

"Yeah, I know. But at least I'm upfront about it!"

The girls started to bicker. Suki sighed and looked away. She had sworn she had seen Ayame talking to Oyaji just a moment ago

She scanned the dance floor and the tables of food around it. She was nowhere to be seen. Suki had wanted to ask Ayame a question about the Unagi. Suki stood up and decided that she would look for Ayame. She wanted to avoid the wallflower interrogations her other warriors were having. Her cheeks turned red at the thought. She shook her head and headed toward the dojo. If Ayame was anywhere, it was there. It was a universal constant; no matter how much her world changed and no matter how many suprises were thrown at her, she could always find Ayame slaughtering a practice dummy in the dojo.

But when she reached the building, it was empty. She looked in the dark corners, the locker room, and even in the small hut at the back of the dojo where Ayame lived. But she was nowhere to be found. She had just disappeared like... like the other warriors did nine years ago.

Suki gasped and started to run to Kyoshi's shrine. She couldn't be late.

Tearing down the path and through the festivities (stopping only once to receive congratulations from an elderly couple), she reached the shrine and tore open the door.

It was dimly lit, a few candles glowing in the dark recesses of the room. At the end of the shrine there was a kneeling figure. She had her back to Suki and her head bowed. In one hand, she had her dark brown hair gripped up in a loose ponytail. The other held a katana. In one deft swipe, locks of hair fell to the ground. Sweeping up the remaining hair, she tied it into a bun similar to the style the men in the village used.

Suki gasped, Ayame.

The young woman turned and looked at her. A guilty smile formed on her lips. "Whatever you think this is, it isn't it."

"What if I thought you just needed a good haircut?" Suki asked, one hand on her hip, her eyes narrowing.

"A good haircut? Yeah, that s it. I was asking Lady Kyoshi s opinion on this new look. You'd be surprised on how many short and sporty looks there can be. I wanted to try another one," She gave Suki another toothy grin and sheathed the katana. Subtly, she stuffed the hair and a man's trousers and tunic into her bag. Brushing the excess hair off her clothes and scooping up her bag, she shouldered it and started to head for the entranceway.

Suki frowned at her appearance. Not only was her hair in a male style, she was also makeup-less and her chest looked extremely flat.

"Ayame," Suki said, "I know you're a bad liar, but this is ridiculous."

"And I know you re a bad fisherman, but that's neither here nor there," Ayame retorted, slipping past Suki and out into the night. Swaggering down the walk, probably trying to look casual, Ayame promply fell on a root and dropped her bag. Out of it fell the men s clothing and a scroll.

Quickly reading the characters, Suki raised and eyebrow. "So, Private Chin-Mae, how did you manage to join the army?"

Ayame turned pale and stuffed the scroll back into her pack. "Same as anyone else," she retorted. "I signed my name."

"You called yourself Chin-Mae? Are you serious? It literally means truth!"

Ayame sniffed, cleared up her fallen possessions and started walking again, this time headed for the port. "They'll never suspect it."

"Ayame..."

"You can't stop me," she turned to look at Suki. "My sisters left nine years ago. Nine whole years! They helped the Earth Kingdom. I need to help end this war."

"But what about us?" Suki asked, almost shouting, but stopping herself at the last moment. "We need your help."

"No, you don't," Ayame turned around and smiled. "You don't," she repeated pointing a finger directly at Suki. The pirates learned that the hard way. She looked Suki in the eye. "I have question for you Suki; what is the job of a Kyoshi warrior?"

Suki frowned. "To protect Kyoshi from invaders?"

"And what's the leader s job?"

Suki didn t answer, for she didn't know the answer.

"To protect the Kyoshi warriors," Ayame smiled. She grabbed her pack and rifled through it before handing Suki an object wrapped in cloth.

Suki looked at her leader and down at the present. "Open it up," Ayame urged. "I don't have all night."

The bundle of cloth fell off pretty easily. And, in Suki's hands sat a golden headdress, much larger than the one she currently wore. It had been Ayame's. Suki stared.

"Suki," Ayame said, not kiddo or shoty or pansy but just "Suki", "I need you to watch over Kyoshi for me, okay? Can you do that?"

Suki stared at the older girl, still gobsmacked.

"Can you do that for me?"

"Y...yes," Suki managed to say.

"Good. Good. Now, Oyaji probably already knows this but can you keep it on the down low until tomorrow morning? I don't want to get busted leaving port."

Suki nodded.

"Good. Good," Ayame nodded her head and turned back towards the port. "Good-bye, then, I guess." She nodded her head again and started walking. She didn t want to miss her boat.

Suki watched her leave, her mouth moving, but no words coming out. Finally she managed something.

"Ayame." The older girl turned.

"Yes?"

"Is the Unagi the serpent that Kyoshi fought in that legend?"

Ayame looked at her then chuckled. "I think you'll find, when you're in charge, that Kyoshi is one huge control freak. Stuff happens all the time. As for the Unagi, I dunno. What do you think?" She turned on her heel and left Suki behind. Little did Suki know that was the last time she ever would see Ayame.

* * *

Splash! The rock that Suki had thrown in the ocean landed with a satisfying splash. It was late and the festival had ended. She was the only one awake, standing on the beach wearing her own headdress on her head. It had felt so wrong to put Ayame s on, so it now lay on Ayame s bedroll in the little hut behind the dojo.

Splash! Another rock sunk into the slowly receding tide. She was the leader of the Kyoshi warriors? Was Ayame serious? Suki hadn't even gotten her first kiss yet! She wasn't ready to lead the (as Ayame called them) "best warriors in the world". Suki sat down on the cold, wet sand and buried her head in her knees. How could Ayame be serious? Suki almost half-belived that tomorrow morning Ayame would come to practice as she always did and tell Suki she had just been playing a prank. "I wish," Suki grumbled.

The night was serene after the festivities had ended. The ocean water lapped up and rushed back in a comforting cadence. The air was cold, but Suki didn't mind. It cleared her head.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw something flash, reflecting the moon on its surface. Startled at the sudden light, she turned and looked. Washed up the shore, a few meters away, were two golden fans.

Her feet leaving prints in the damp sand, Suki made her way to the fans. Picking them up and examining them, her heart lept. They were old, so old that some of the engravings were buffed down to a soft finish. These were Kyoshi s, alright. Suki brushed the sand off of the delicate piece, trying to clear out the sand that had gathered in the indentations. There were some characters inscribed into the hilt that Suki had never noticed before. Squinting and directing the fan into the moon light, Suki read the inscription:

"First, believe in yourself. Everyone else will follow."

* * *

AN: Whew! Super fast update! Please don t expect this all the time, I just already had about half of this written. Anyway, I wrote this chapter while listening to the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack, so feel feel free to listen to it while you re-read it (this is only a partial joke, I am serious about the rereading part). I also have some notes to add. When Suki is riding the Unagi, I tried to describe it to make it sound like Suki looked when she was riding the airships to Sokka and Toph's rescue in the finale. Dunno if I pulled that off or not. If you forgot, Takeshi"was the leader of the warriors before Ayame was. And if you all were wondering, yes, Chin-Mae is a real boy s name and it does actually mean honest in Korean.

I also named quite a few of the other warriors that Suki trains with. Their names are: Yoko (Suki s best friend), Karin (the teacher s pet), Noa, Misa and Sakura (they all helped Ayame fight off the pirates), and Jin-Jing and Bunko (these two helped Yoko roll the boulders down the hill). There are probably some others but they don t matter as much. Next time on Daughters of Kyoshi: How will the council react to the leadership change? Whatever happened to the pirates? And does Karin ever get the lovin she deserves from Maru? Until then, good night/morning/afternoon.

Edit: Something went wonky and all the apostrophes were removed. Now added back in!


	6. The Headdress

The Headdress

Disclaimer: Avatar: the Last Airbender belongs to Mike, Bryan and Nickelodeon

Mayor Tong whistled merrily as he walked down the streets of his town. It a beautiful morning and the sun was just rising. The Village of Chin was in for a special treat today. They had caught some shoplifters the other day in town and there was to be a public hearing to determine their fate. Tong smiled. They hadn't had the opportunity to use the Wheel of Punishment since his neighbor had accidentally killed his cat! He had gotten community service. Tong hoped that the criminals today would be burned alive. He hadn't seen a good burning at the stake since the "unnecessary noise in public" hearing of 73.

Tong made his way through the city and headed towards the amphitheatre for the public hearing. How he loved convicting innocents!

But, Tong saw something that would thoroughly disrupt his morning constitutional.

"What the…" Tong stopped in his tracks. In front of him all tied up were scores of pirates! And that wasn't the worst part! the statue of the All Mighty Chin had been horrendously defiled. The grand statue of Chin's founder had egg yolks running down off it granite beard and boots.

Tong looked around for a clue on the where about the perpetrators. How he wanted them to be boiled in oil! He saw on one of the pirates, was a scroll. Spluttering in shock, Mayor Tong went over and opened the note. It read:

_Tong:_

_Next time send some pirates that will actually challenge us and not make you look like a fool. Next time send a real challenge. Unless you're too scared? And do you like the eggs on Chin? Turns out they are quite the moisturizer for dry hair. Maybe you should try some._

_Love,_

_The Kyoshi Warriors_

With a small squeal, the mayor, fell over. Tong had fainted. But before he blacked out he swore he heard one of the pirates say, "It's true. Eggs work miracles for your hair…"

* * *

"She's late again," Yoko muttered, sitting in the stretching circle with some of the other girls.

"Ayame's always late," Jin-Jing said, touching her toes. "I don't see how it's a surprise."

"I know, but still. We wake up at the crack of dawn every day and she's not ready. How did I get talked into doing this, again?"

"As I recall, you asked for it," pitched in Karin. She was sitting outside of the stretching circle. Her arm and side were both bandaged up. The arrow wound was deep, but it had gone in clean. The village healer had patched her up in no time and she was expected to make a full recovery. What wouldn't recover was her ego. The other girls had heckled her mercilessly for being the only one to be wounded. It was just an act, however. All the girls were happy for her to be alive.

"So," Bunko asked, "do you think Tong got the note yet?"

The girls giggled, imaging the different ways the Mayor of Chin would react.

"Ugh," groaned Noa, flopping backwards on her back. "When's Ayame gonna show up?"

Sakura looked out the window and saw the sun rise was now just and early morning sun floating in the sky. "You know, she is pretty late…"

"Hey wait guys," Misa said, looking around the dojo. "Where's Suki?"

Everyone looked around. But she was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

Suki sat on Ayame's bed, in the little hut behind the dojo, looking down at the leader's headdress. The sun was rising and she would be expected to make and entrance sooner or later. Should she swagger into the dojo and demand attention, just like Ayame or slip in quietly and explain the situation? Suki sighed. Being leader was hard.

Better not drag this out, Suki thought, picking herself up off the bed. She picked up her warrior's armor and uniform and changed into it, tightly tying the belt around her waist. She then scooped up the hair that was hanging in her eyes and pulled it back. She started to smear the warrior's paint across her face when she stopped herself. No, she couldn't do that. There was no reason to put her uniform on completely. None of the other girls did for the morning practice. It would look like she was rubbing her newfound position in the others' faces.

Leaving her old headdress on the floor, Suki picked up Ayame's and held it in her hands. What was she waiting for? The change into her warrior's armor took much longer it did regularly. Suki realized her feet were dragging across the floor. She was procrastinating! Suki nearly smacked herself across the forehead. She was Suki! She was the most trained warrior on the island! She could handle this.

Crossing the tiny house in a few long strides, Suki ripped the door and slammed it shut. Flinching at the sound she turned around to make sure the door was still intact. She walked, he head high and chest out, towards the door of the dojo.

She heard her warrior's voices coming out of the door.

"When's Ayame gonna show up?" Suki heard Noa say.

Right to the point, eh? Taking only a moment to stop and take a deep breath, she opened the door to the dojo.

"She left."

The warriors turned their heads and stared.

"Suki?"

Suki held up Ayame's headdress up for all the girls to see. The sunlight shone off of the headdress. The warriors recognized it. It was definitely Ayame's. They looked at Suki expectantly.

Taking the cue for an explanation, Suki stood up straight and said in a loud, clear voice; "Ayame is gone. She left, just like her sisters did. I'm now in charge."

There was complete silence. The girls just stared at Suki. Then the mutters came. Questions not directed to Suki came flying out of the pack of girls on the floor.

"Who says?"

"Why'd Ayame leave?"

"Where's she go?"

"I think the Unagi ate her and Suki's keeping it quiet…"

"Does Oyaji know about this?"

"Why does Suki get to do it? I'm way better at the katana!"

It was becoming too much as the girls just sat on the floor whispering. Suki bit her lip and squeezed her hands into fists. She needed to show who was boss.

"If you guys are questioning my ability, why don't you challenge me to a match?" Suki said, her voice calm as her face was turning red underneath the war paint. "Whoever can beat me can take their rightful place as the leader."

The silence was real this time. The girls shut up. But they were still shooting Suki some suspicious looks. For who could blame them? Their leader had gotten up and left overnight and had left the command to a girl no older and no better than they were. But no one said anything.

"Okay," Suki said, walking to the locker room, ready to change out of her armor and get the equipment to begin practice. "Can we start practice, now?"

"I wouldn't change out of your armor just yet," a voice from behind Suki said, "I challenge you."

Suki turned around. It was Yoko. Suki grinned.

"You're on."

* * *

The main floor of the dojo was cleared. Suki faced Yoko in the middle of the room. Yoko had changed into her full warrior's outfit as well.

Sakura stood in the middle, playing referee. "If you can keep your opponent pinned for ten seconds, it is a victory. The opponents may use any weapons they have on them except for katana."

Sakura raised her hand. "On the count of three, the fight commences and will not cease until one of the fighters is down for then seconds. Go that?"

She looked at Suki and Yoko and they nodded. "Three. Two. One. Begin!" On "begin", she brought her hand down, starting the fight.

Instantly Suki leapt back as she saw a fan flying at her face. She jumped back even farther, she widened her stance and readied her fans.

Suki heard a ripping sound and then the sound of wood against metal and she looked over. A fan had impaled the sleeve of her uniform against the wall. She tired to pull her arm off of the wall. But she couldn't move it. She grabbed one of her fans, trying to cut the fabric to free herself, but it was too late.

Another fan, the other fan that Yoko had thrown was thrown again and stuck her free hand against the wall. Her hand dropped the fan.

Suki eyes widened. Her heart rate accelerated. She couldn't be beaten that easily, could she? She thought she had gotten Kyoshi's blessing.! She couldn't lose, could she?

Swooping down like a wolfbat, Yoko neatly bound Suki's hands and feet with her belt and, prying Suki off of the wall, pushed her back and forced Suki onto her knees. She kicked Suki's fans far away. Primly, she sat on Suki's back.

Sakura started counting. "Ten."

"Nine." Suki squirmed. How had she been beaten so quickly.

"Eight." No… she wasn't down yet.

"Seven." She started squirming trying to knock Yoko off of her back. Ayame had given her the responsibility!

"Six."

"Five." Yoko was holding on, her grip slipping slowly as Suki rocked back and forth.

"Four." With a clatter, one of Yoko's fans fell to the ground. Maybe Suki could cut her restraints?

"Three." She moved her hands and feet over the fan.

"Two." Yoko tried to grab Suki but she was almost free…

BANG. The door to the dojo swung open, revealing a panting Oyaji.

"Girls? What are you doing?" He asked, looking at Yoko pinning Suki to the floor and the warriors around them. "This is no time for sparring. The council wants to see you."

The girls looked at each other.

"Now," Oyaji, oddly stern.

The girls followed Oyaji out the door.

Yoko got off of Suki. "This isn't over," she said, undoing Suki's restraints and tying the belt back onto her waist and left too.

Suki rolled over onto her back. That had been close. Picking herself off of the floor, she headed out the door.

The leader's headdress was left in the corner of the dojo, forgotten.

* * *

The village was gathered in the square. The council had wanted and audience and they had got it. At the base of the Kyoshi statue stood the council of elders, their wrinkled faces looking down on the other villagers. The council was only an advisory group for Oyaji but they had gained more and more leverage over the years and had gained quite a bit of leverage over the poor heckled Oyaji.

The leader of the council, Chuntao, had been a Kyoshi warrior when she was young. She was a horrible old prune. All the warriors and most of the villagers hated her. Thankfully, she usually kept to herself unless she was bothering Oyaji. She hated the warriors and resented Ayame. She hadn't been able to control Takeshi's warriors from leaving.

The warriors and Oyaji could be seen far away heading down the hill from the dojo. When they reached the crowd at the base of the Kyoshi statue, Oyaji bowed deep and said, "The Kyoshi warriors, as you asked."

The warriors bowed too, but theirs were shallow and barely bent at the neck. The villagers stared to murmur. What disrespect!

With a raise of her hand, the leader of the council silenced the crowd. "So, Oyaji," Chuntao said, "you told me earlier today that the _dear _leader to the Kyoshi warriors had disappeared in the night."

Oyaji nodded, "Yes, ma'm."

"So, may I ask you, who is the new leader?" she asked, waving her hand at the mismatched group of warriors in their morning workout clothes.

"Well, ma'm," Oyaji said, "Ayame recommended someone before she left-"

"I wasn't finished talking Oyaji," the ancient woman said, waving a disapproving finger at him. "You know how Avatar Kyoshi wanted the leader selection to be decided. And, as the eldest Kyoshi warrior on the island, I would like to claim my position as leader."

There was gasps from the crowd.

"Hey! That's not fair!" Came Yoko's voice, cutting through the busy murmuring of the villagers. "How can you lead us, you old fart? You'd break a hip!"

"Silence!" Chuntao yelled and quiet rushed through the village square. Turning towards the group of warriors she flashed her yellow teeth. "Break a hip, eh? Might I ask what brave young woman told me I'd break a hip?

"I did," Yoko said, stepping forward.

A grin replaced the sneer on the councilwoman's wrinkly old face. "If you're so sure I'd break a hip, how would you like to prove to your village that you are more worthy than I am for the leader ship."

"It's your own fault if you lose."

Suki watched as she watched her rival walk into the impromptu circle the villagers had created. The rules were the same: ten seconds after a pin there would be a victory.

Yoko cracked her neck and casually held out her fans in a beginner's stance. Suki frowned. Was she really that confident she would win that she was going to do it with the basics? Suki had thought Yoko was smarter than that.

On the other side of the circle, Chuntao had been fitted with some armor and had been handed some fans. She almost looked like a warrior besides the obvious age difference. But there was one small difference, Suki noticed: she was barefoot. She frowned. The hag's naked feet would be an obvious target for a warrior's boot. Chuntao stood in a strange stance, her legs spread and her knees bent. A horse stance? Suki thought, what was the practicality in that?

Oyaji stood between the two warriors, playing referee. He counted down slowly. "Go!" he yelled, beginning the match.

Chuntao smiled devilishly and then stomped a foot to the ground. A pillar of rock shot out of the ground, launching Yoko into the air.

An earthbender?

Yoko landed with a thunk on the ground. She groaned and slowly picked herself up. But Chuntao was ready. With another stomp and an upward thrust with her arm, the dirt underneath Yoko turned to sand as Yoko sank into the earth.

A silence washed over the crowd.

"The match goes to Lady Chuntao," Oyaji said, his voice cracking.

With another stomp, Chuntao pushed Yoko out of the ground. She turned to the warriors, "Meet me in the dojo in an hour. I need to reacquaint you all to the basics," she spat. The hag leaned down and picked up her shoes. "That is all."

The girls ran over to Yoko. She was in no good shape. Small cuts and bruises covered her arms and legs from the crushing weight of the sand. Yoko's face was pale but she was furious, her eyes blazing and her face still curled in a snarl. She tried to get up on her own but she collapsed onto the ground with a hiss of pain. "She nearly crushed me," Yoko gasped, clutching her ribs. Suki stared, scared.

_A leader's job is to protect her warriors. _Ayame's voice whispered into Suki's ear.

Suki looked to Yoko on the ground and then looked desperately towards the council leader. Chuntao was walking away. It was now or never.

"Wait," Suki said, walking forward towards the ancient earthbender. "Fight me."

Suki could have sworn that she saw a shadow of fear flicker across the leader's face. But it was gone too soon for Suki to be sure it had ever been present. A smirk formed on the ancient elder's face.

"Fight you?" She looked Suki up and down, noting the disheveled and torn uniform. "You're not even worth my time. I don't want to break another daughter of Kyoshi," Chuntao twaved her hand and turned her back on Suki.

Suki frowned. Snatching one of her fans, she threw it. It flew through the air and went so close to Chuntao's head, it cut a few hairs without touching the hag's face. The elder whipped around.

"You won't break me. I can fight you," Suki slid into an advanced form, ready to fight.

A smile crept onto Chuntao's face. She cracked her gnarled knuckles and threw her shoes to the side again. "It would be an honor to defeat another young daughter of Kyoshi."

The villagers created another ring encircling the women. Oyaji walked up to Suki with the fan that she threw. Handing it to her, he looked Suki in the eyes.

"Ayame believed in you," the village leader whispered, "Don't disappoint me."

Suki nodded.

"The rules are the same as before," Oyaji said, turning to the villagers. "On my mark, get set…"

"Go."

* * *

AN: Cliffhanger! I want to thank all my wonderful reviewers for motivating me to churn a chapter every week or so. I updated a lot sooner than I thought I would. Daughters of Kyoshi would never have lived without all of your support. And to thank all of my readers, I want to reward you all. Believe it or not, DOK is only two (or so) chapters from completion, so, I wanted to extend an invitation to all of my readers to give me some drabble prompts or questions about the universe of DOK. The prompts/questions can be like "Karin/Maru drabble" or "where is the foaming mouth guy?" All ideas will be considered and any can be chosen to star in an extras chapter after the final chapter of DOK. To request a drabble, just leave a review with your request or shoot me a PM. I'll take any requests until two days after the final chapter is posted. I'll give you a more specific date later.

Next time on Daughters of Kyoshi: The final showdown between Suki and Chuntao! Who will be the new leader of the Kyoshi warriors? Until then, DFTBA.


	7. Seeing Things

Seeing Things

Disclaimer: Avatar: The Last Airbender belongs to Bryan, Mike and Nickelodeon.

"Go!"

As soon as Oyaji shouted, the match began. Chuntao stomped down her foot and a pillar of earth sprang up from under Suki. At the last minute, she jumped up and away, narrowly missing being hit. Landing lightly in a crouch, she had to leap away again as Chuntao sent a rock the size of a child soaring straight at Suki's head.

It became a slight game of cat and mouse as Chuntao, always on the offensive, sent rock after rock at Suki. Suki, barely staying in the match, swerved and weaved her way over and around the rocks. But she was not out yet. She had an advantage that Yoko hadn't: She knew what Chundao could do.

"Good. Good," the old woman cackled. "Let's see you dodge this!"

She widened her horse stance and she slowly lifted her arms up and with her motion rose a rock the size of an elephant koi out of the ground. Suki's eyes widened, and snatching one of her fans out of her sash (she had put them away as to dodge more effectively) she threw it straight at Chuntao's face. She wanted to wipe the condescending smirk right off.

But Chuntao reacted too fast. She let the boulder drop, defecting the fan off of its falling side as it did so. The boulder slammed to the ground with an earthshaking crash. The impact was so strong that the statue of Kyoshi bounced off the ground and wobbled dangerously. The villagers and Suki fell to the ground. Suki blinked. Had she just seen the statue's eyes flash?

Picking herself off the ground, she narrowly avoided the ground turning into sand as she rolled away from where she had been. The villagers and the rest of the warriors were still on the ground, moaning. Suki looked at Chuntao and the old woman grinned back at her.

"Now, now. Don't cheat," she said wagging a finger. "Do you know that old expression, Suki? You play with fire…?"

The old lady landed in a stance that was unlike any earth bending form Suki knew. Chuntao leapt forward in a forward hand spring, swinging her legs up over her with and impossible display of strength and agility for a woman her age. As her feet arced down, however, _fire,_ started shooting out of her feet.

The two focused blasts expanded as they made their way towards Suki. Almost instinctively, Suki covered her face with her armguards, trying to protect herself from the worst of it. She leapt back. The fire had left scorch marks on her armguards. She patted out a small fire that had started on her sleeve. She stopped in her tracks and stared at the council leader.

"….you get burned. Am I right?" The council leader grinned evilly at the warrior. "What's the matter, little girl? Never seen a firebender before?"

Suki hadn't. But she did know one thing; you didn't bend more then one element. Period. Unless you were the Avatar, but the young airbender hadn't been seen in over a hundred years. They didn't even know if he was still alive.

Suki looked around. Had anyone else seen that? The villagers, the warriors and Oyaji were still on the ground after the shockwave. Oyaji was up but he had his eyes and he was groaning, massaging his temples. It seems they hadn't seen anything.

"You can't firebend!" yelled Suki to Chuntao.

The hag grinned. "Well, what do you see me doing, girly?" She punched her fist forward and another stream of fire toward the warrior. Suki dove for cover as the fireball shot past her head. She leapt to her feet as she saw the old lady stomp her foot, and none to soon. A pillar of rock soared up from where she had been lying a moment ago.

"Now, now. No break times for the warrior princess." She punched both fists forward again, but this time Suki was ready. Ducking under the twin streams of fire and running forward before they could expand, Suki couched and swung her leg, knocking the older woman's legs out from underneath her.

They old lady toppled over and Suki grinned. Whipping out her sash from where it lay on her waist, she prepared to tie the old lady up. She had a lot of explanations that were needed to be given.

Chuntao moaned from where she had landed: face first into a pile of snow. Suki walked in, ready to hog-tie the older woman. But then, the old woman's arms moved and a long sweeping motion.

From the ground rose the snow, and in one fast, sharp motion, froze Suki's hands together. _Waterbending, too?_ Suki thought incredulously. _That's impossible._

Jumping backward, as to not get frozen snow in her face, Suki tried to assess the situation. She had no function of her hands. She had been defensive the entire battle. Chuntao had bent three elements in the past three minutes and no one had blinked an eye? Suki shook her head. The outcome didn't look good no matter what she did. But she couldn't give up. She was a Kyoshi warrior! She was strong. She was brave. A grandma couldn't push her around!

Flipping over a wave of water that the councilwoman had made from the snow, Suki ran towards Chuntao. She swung her arms, still frozen together with the ice, ready to hit the old lady with her newly acquired club. But then Chuntao stepped out of her way, causally, with her hands behind her back. She looked amusedly over at Suki. Suki turned around and gawked. She had been going full speed.

"Going earthbender on me, are you? Something tells me you won't be able to attack this head on," and with that Chuntao stomped on the ground, pillars of rock exploding under Suki's feet. Quickly, she spun out of the way and groaned. She was back to dodging rocks. But it was harder than it had been before. With her arms bound, she couldn't flip, she couldn't land on her hand. And she certainly couldn't land on her hands. Chundao hadn't won, yet.

Then, it happened. Using the momentum of the rising pillar of rock to launch herself high into the air, Suki watched Chuntao unsheathe her fans. With a step forward and a swing of her arms, a gust of wind was sent Suki's way. And, in midair, she had no chance of dodging it.

The sudden blast of air caught her square on the chest and sent her flying backwards. She landed with and grunt and a popping sound. A pain shot down Suki's arm. Her shoulder had been dislocated.

Groaning and looking up at the sky, she saw the face of Kyoshi's statue. She saw the chipped paint and the way the wind had smoothed the carved edges. It must have been beautiful when it was new. Kyoshi was a giantess. She stood tall and proud. Her face was severe but Suki knew that when Kyoshi had been alive, her eyes would have been filled with kindness. As almost in response to her thoughts, she saw the statue's eyes flash again. Suki frowned. So she hadn't been seeing things?

"Not so strong, now are we?" Chuntao sauntered over to Suki and looked down at her. "You don't know what it is like to lose. You never have."

That old wrinkly hag. Suki glared up at her. She was meant to be the leader of the warriors. Of course she couldn't lose!

Suki spat at her face. Chuntao crinkled her nose and wiped her face. "You're in no place to fight, girl. The longer you fight with me, the more mad I get and the more I'll take it out on your precious warriors."

But warriors didn't give up! Warriors fought until they were not able to stand anymore! Ayame had told her that.

But…Ayame had also told her to protect her warriors first. Suki frowned. Slowly, she picked herself off the ground and into a kneeling position.

Chuntao seemed to be growing impatient. With another stomp of her foot a boulder the size of a tigerdillo rocketed out of the ground and she held it over her head.

There was no other way. Suki bowed her head as she said, spitefully at first but then with growing humility, "I surrender. Please do not punish my sisters for what I have done to offend you. I am sorry."

A small smile formed on the lips of the councilwoman, "That is perhaps the hardest lesson a warrior must learn." She raised the rock even higher, small pebbles falling off of it precariously as it swayed slightly in the breeze.

"ENOUGH." came a shout. Oyaji was being helped up by two of the warriors. In fact, most of the village was still on the ground from the initial shock wave of the boulder being dropped. Suki blinked. It didn't take that long to get up, did it?

"Enough," Oyaji repeated. "I will let this madness go on no longer. The current warriors will decide amongst themselves who is to be their leader. I will not have this nonsense any longer. I cannot stand idly by as each and every one of the warriors gets injured! Chuntao, drop that rock. Earthbending against a nonbender is not a fair duel. You are a councilwoman and are expected to act like one _unless you want otherwise_."

The boulder floating over Suki's head was calmly moved and placed down by the old woman, with only the tiniest hint of a haughty snort.

Oyaji turned to Suki. "Suki, you take the warriors back to the dojo and agree upon what your next step is. Ayame is gone. We need some new leadership."

Suki leaned back on her heels in order to get up off the ground without the use of her hands. But as she looked down at her arms, she saw that the ice had disappeared. The scorch marks on her arm guards were also gone, and all the little burns she had gotten were all gone. The only injury that had stayed was the dislocated shoulder that she had gotten from her harsh fall.

Curious, she looked at the battlefield too. The mud puddles that had been created from the waves of water that were sent her way were all gone. In fact, the only sign of bending was the displaced rocks littered around the base of the Kyoshi statue. Suki looked up at the founder's face. Could she have? Suki shook her head. No way.

Seeing Suki having difficulty getting up with only one arm, Yoko limped over to where Suki was and offered her a hand. After a resigned sigh, Suki took it and was hoisted to her feet. Joining the rest of the warriors, the injured girls walked up the slope towards the dojo.

* * *

"So… how do you want to settle this?"

"Settle what?"

"The whole leadership thing?"

"Oh, yeah."

The warriors were sitting in a circle on the dojo's floor, just like they did every morning. There was no rank: no leader, no subordinate, just girls in a circle talking.

"Y'know," Jin-Jing said doing a backbend, "all this sitting in a circle makes me want to stretch. You guys in?"

The girls groaned. They had just relocated Suki's dislocated shoulder. It was an awkward, painful process and they did not want to repeat it again with the almost certain injuries that would result form Jin-Jing's crazy contortions. The village healer called it "double-jointed", the warriors called creepy.

"Can we get this over with?" Misa asked, shifting a little in her spot. "I don't want to lead."

Some of the girls nodded in agreement.

"Did you see Chuntao? She was crazy! I think anyone would be better than she was." They agreed again.

"So," Sakura said, "who _wants_ to lead?" No one raised their hand.

One by one, they looked over to where Yoko and Suki sat together.

Yoko put her hands up defensively, "Don't look at me. It's too much work."

Suki punched her on the arm. "They why did you challenge me?"

"Ow! Well, someone had to do it. Your head was too big from all that "chosen one" garbage."

"I was going to win that."

"Sure, you were. You keep telling yourself that."

Suki suddenly grew very self-conscious at all the stares that were now being directed at her. She knew why. Ayame had picked her, after all, to take her place. And, just this morning, Suki would have accepted the other girls acceptance without question. But now she wasn't so sure. Not that she had been sure before, but then she had thought it was her duty. Now she didn't know. She didn't know if she could protect her warriors.

"Well?" Yoko said, looking at her. "You were pretty sure about it this morning."

Suki frowned. She didn't want to show any weakness. But she wasn't sure about accepting.

"Ayame told me the night before she left that it was a warrior's job to protect the village. But it was also the leader's job to protect the warriors. And after Chuntao, I just don't know."

"Chuntao was crazy. And don't worry. We're not as stupid as you are. I know I wouldn't go one on one against an old earth bender."

The warriors smiled and nodded. They agreed. That Was why they fought as a group.

"That's why we fight in a group," Yoko continued, "y'know, so we can have each other's backs." She picked herself up off the ground, brushed off some loose grains of sand, and walked over to the corner. Leaning down, she picked up Ayame's headdress. Blowing it off and polishing it with her sleeve, she brought the headdress back to Suki and proceeded to tie it onto her head. Suki almost protested, but she stopped herself. If not her and not Yoko, who else would do the job?

"Y'know," whispered Yoko into her ear as she fastened the headdress, "I fought you this morning so you could prove yourself to these girls. Don't screw up." She tightened the strap with a brisk tug. "Oh, and yeah," she added, "I got your back. Who knows," she joked, "maybe one of them will figure out who's the brains of this outfit."

"Oh, yeah?" Suki said out loud, grinning mischievously, "You want to put your money where your mouth is?"

"A little gamble of sorts? Yoko asked, also out loud. "What about I you lose a hand-to-hand fight with me, you have to wash the dirty uniforms for a month?"

"And if you lose, you have to clean fish out on my dad's boat for an entire week?"

"It's a date." The others warriors watched incredulously as the two girls shook hands.

Yoko picked herself off the ground and hobbled to the center of the dojo.

"What are you doing?" Suki asked.

"We're gonna fight, right? Let's go!"

Suki raised and eyebrow. "I was thinking about another day when you're less beat up."

"Why do you think that that will stop me from kicking your sorry butt? Let me tell you, just 'cause you're now leader doesn't mean you're invincible. Remember when I took down Ayame without any training."

"Yeah, I helped you."

"Well, yeah. Let's go. No time like now!" Yoko slipped into an advanced form.

"I hope you like fish guts," Suki said walking up to Yoko, "'cause you're gonna see them everyday after I'm finished with you."

With out any other warning, the two girls started going at it, punching, kicking, and feigning. It was like they were totally different fighters than from this morning. They moved with grace, finesse. As the other girls watched, they could tell that everything was in sync.

And kicking and punching, the sun started to set, the red-orange light streaming through the dojo windows. It was some way to end the day.

* * *

Ayame watched the sunset from her perch neat the hull of the ship, a scroll and an ink bottle on her lap. Where she was sitting, she could feel the wind in her face and taste the salt air. If she closed her eyes, she could almost imagine that she was home, meditating in Kyoshi's shrine or sitting on the Unagi bay cliffs.

"Come on! Spidersnake-eyes!" came a shout from the deck. Ayame groaned. They were gambling again? Rumor had it on the ship that the gambling regulars had already given away half a year's wages in advance. Ayame chuckled. Boys were stupid.

She looked down at the scroll on her lap. She had intended to write to the warriors to tell them that she was okay, but now that she had the paper out, Ayame had no idea what to write. She had only been a few days out at sea. They had stopped at a few ports to pick up more men to send to training but now they were making a straight course to the Earth Kindom army training grounds right outside of Ba Sing Se. It had only been a few days, but Ayame was sure that she had landed herself on the boat were all the idiots of the Earth Kingdom had decided to converge. Perhaps it was a blessing though, for no one had identified her as female.

"Hey," a voice came from right next to Ayame. She jumped and opened her eyes. Had she really gotten that lax already?

In front of her stood one of the young men to join the boat at its later stops. He was tall and tan, as if he had worked in fields his entire life. His eyes were the standard Earth Kingdom green, and his noticeably crooked teeth as well as confirmed Ayame's suspicion that she was looking at a good 'ole farmer's boy.

"Hey. You heard them ring the dinner bell, right? I though I oughta tell you, or you'd probably get nothing to eat," the farmer boy said, nodding his head towards the ladder to the lower decks where the mess hall was.

"Oh," Ayame said, purposely lowering her voice, trying to match his pitch. Rolling up her scroll and closing her pot of ink, she started to head to the lower decks. She had learned from her first day on this ship that she wanted to get there before the rowers did or there would be nothing left to eat. "Thanks," she added as an after thought. He _had _been nice, after all. "Who were you writing to?" the farmer boy asked, jogging to keep up with her.

"Excuse me?"

"Who were you writing to?"

"Who says I was writing?"

"Well, on account of you having a scroll and a pot of ink. You got someone at home you miss?"

Ayame paused. She could lie to him just to get him off her back. Friendships would lead to closeness and closeness would lead to being caught. She looked into his tan face and honest green eyes, she thought better. He had asked nicely…

"Yeah, I do."

The farmer boy looked taken aback at her honesty.

"I'm Sensu," Sensu said, offering Ayame his hand.

She took it and replied, "Chin-Mae." The fake name sounded weird on her tounge and she almost winced as she said it but she caught herself just in time.

"So, who were you writin' to?" Sensu asked her after they had gotten their food and Ayame had sat down (followed, to Ayame's annoyance, by Sensu).

"Excuse me?"

"Who were you trying to write to? Who do you miss?" the farmer boy asked, his mouth full of food. "You can't be writin' to nobody.

Ayame shrugged. She wouldn't give too much away from just answering a simple question.

"My little sisters. There's seven of them."

Sensu whisted, his eyebrows raised. "_Seven_? I've got one little brother and he's a handful all by himself. Don't look at me like that. He's great. His name is Lee and he wants to be a swordsman when he grows up."

"No kidding," Ayame said. "They want to be swordsmen too."

Sensu laughed. "All seven of 'em?"

Ayame smiled, "They're great. Stubborn as earthbenders, though."

Ayame was sure that whatever happened to her, her little sisters would keep Kyoshi safe. She knew that whatever was happening on her island right now, they would be able to overcome it. They were daughters of Kyoshi, after all.

Ayame turned her attention back to Sensu and watched him animatedly recount when he and his father had tried to chase down a chickenpig with their bare hands after they had accidentally let it loose. Lee had apparently jumped ontop of it and started riding it back into the corral before either Sensu or his father could catch it themselves.

As she watched Sensu, laughing along to his humorous story, she felt a rock fall into in her stomach. She watched him make faces as he emphasized different points in his story and how his mose scrunched up when he laughed nervously. She found it hard to swallow.

Ayame had a startling realization that keeping up her façade would be a lot more challenging than she could have ever anticipated. For she knew what the penalty was for if she was found out…

* * *

AN: Hmm...I'm not too sure about this chapter. It was kinda forced. As for the prompt requests I want them as soon as possible 'cos that's gonna be the next chapter. All contributions will be appreciated.

As for this chapter, all I want to add is that Sensu is actually a canon character. He's Lee's (little kid from "Zuko Alone") older brother that was conscripted by the nasty local army recruiters. How did I pull off writing Sensu? Before some serious editing, Sensu sounded really girly. Was it okay? I also decided that the only Kyoshi warriors are the seven mentioned in the test. I was rewatching the episode "The Warriors of Kyoshi" and I noticed that there were not that many of them.

Next time on Daughters of Kyoshi: What happens to the warriors now? Where is Avatar Kyoshi? Also some vignettes of the lives of the warriors and their families?


	8. Not A Cloud

Not A Cloud

Disclaimer: Avatar: The Last Airbender belongs to Nickelodeon, Mike and Bryan.

When Chuntao opened her eyes after falling asleep, everything was dark. But slowly, light started to filter into Chuntao's vision and she found herself standing on a platform in the middle of the swamp. While it was brighter than pitch black, the place was still dark as the towering trees and vines successfully covered the sky from view. The air was heavy and humid and little gnats buzzed annoyingly around her head. Why did the Spirit World have to be a swamp today? She looked around, hoping to see who calledher there but she saw nobody. But when she looked again she saw a giant woman clad in armor and a green dress appear a few meters away. The woman approached her.

"Lady Kyoshi." Chuntao kneeled before the former Avatar.

"Chuntao," the large woman nodded her head in acknowledgement.

Getting off her knees, Chuntao stood up, her head still respectfully bowed. She knew whay she had been called there in her sleep. "What did you think of the new leader, my lady?" she asked, right to the point. Kyoshi hated to be kept waiting.

Kyoshi smiled as she looked upon one of her daughters. She had seen them both fight well. The young one was a little hard-headed, but that would soften with age. The old Avatar knew that from personal experience. "I look forward to watching her exploits. You have done well, Chuntao." She inclined her head in a bow.

Chuntao nodded slowly. "My lady."

"You and I probably won't meet again, Chuntao," the Avatar said abruptly, already done with the conversation. "I wish you luck for the rest of your life and your time in the Spirit World." Kyoshi sadly and slowly looked down on her oldest follower alive. She was proud. "But as for now," she said, "please awaken and face the new day." Kyoshi started to walk away from Chuntao, as the village elder picked herself up off the ground. Her vision started to fade…

Blinking, Chuntao awoke. The morning sunlight streamed through the windows and straight into her eyes. How long had she slept in? She didn't usually sleep past dawn, if she could help it. She felt her grogginess lifting alarmingly fast. She knew the signs.

_Spirits,_ she tisked, _always meddling and never telling you what you did…_

Her body ached from the battle she had had with Suki yesterday. "I'm getting too old for this," she muttered to no one. She propped herself and started massaging her aching back. That little girl had done quite well against her earthbending. She was a tough one, Suki.

Chuntao decided she would watch the warriors with interest.

* * *

And she watched the warriors for quite some time from afar. The weeks turned into months, the months into seasons, seasons into years. The warriors had grown both as warriors and as girls. Karin had had her first kiss, Yoko had successfully fought all the men in the village (and won) and Suki was growing into quite the young leader. By now, three years had passed into another cold winter. They were fifteen and they were fearless.

"Again."

"Again." Suki watched the girls try to perform the move again. She shook her head.

"Do you want to break your neck? Here: watch us do it again. Yoko?"

Yoko grinned at Suki as the sparring Sakura and Jin-Jing stepped away from the middle of the dojo. "You sure? I might upstage you?"

"Remember when you tried to do that before? You ended up gutting fish for a week. Just run at me."

With those words, Yoko sprinted towards Suki with an unnecessary yell. As soon as she was close enough to Suki, Suki bent down, grabbed her torso and sent Yoko flipping through the air. With a summersault before landing, Yoko rolled into a crouch.

"You see how she rolled to absorb the impact?" Suki asked, directing the question to all the girls in the dojo. "That way's way better than landing flat on your back. As you can see, it can help you get back into the fight faster and not risk hurting your neck."

The warriors nodded and returned to their sparring, trying to summersault before landing. Almost immediately they started to improve. Suki smiled. She was a damn good teacher.

There was a knock on the door. Frowning, Suki looked over at Yoko, who shrugged, and proceeded to walk over to the door and open it.

In the doorway stood a couple in their late thirties. The man was very tan and had calloused hands from years of fishing off the coast. The woman had graying auburn hair and a pleasant expression on her face.

"Mom? Dad? What are you doing here?" Suki asked, dumbstruck. They weren't supposed to bother her during practice.

"Hey, Suki. Can you spare some time for us?"

Suki blinked.

'We miss you, Suki. You're always so busy working. We hardly see you at all, even in the evenings."

Suki blinked again before regaining her composure,

"Uhh…sure. Come in." She beckoned with her hand and stood out of the way to let them in.

She turned to her eavesdropping warriors. They quickly turned back to their sparring partners, trying to make it look like they weren't listening at all. "Change of plans. Take the day off. Go on a date. Go to the port, whatever. Just make sure you guys don't get in trouble with Oyaji, okay?"

The girls nodded, barely containing their glee and filed single file into the locker room. The door closed and Suki heard muffled hoots and cheers as the girls celebrated their first day off since Kyoshi day.

"So what are we gonna do?" Suki asked, turning to her parents.

They looked at each other and grinned.

* * *

"Fish? Really?" Suki groaned. She hated fishing. She hated the smell. She hated the work. And she hated the fact that her family was the only family that sold fish on the island. A true family business, her father called it. The permanent slightly fishy smell on the boat always made her gag.

"Yup," her father smiled. "I let the boys off today. It's just me and my favorite girls." He rumpled Suki's hair and gave his wife a peck on the cheek.

Rubbing his hands together, he started to weigh anchor, Suki (silently groaning the whole time) quickly slipped up to the sails, loosening. Her mother made her way to the wheel.

"Come on," her father said in response to Suki's morose expression, "This is a great family outing!"

* * *

Yoko whistled as she walked down the street. The other girls had disappeared as soon as Suki had dismissed them. To where, Yoko had no idea.

It was turning into quite a nice morning. She had rescued a cat from a tree, gotten into an impromptu Snowman-making contest with some of the little girls on the island and had gotten into a fight with Maru and won. Watching Maru crawl all the way back to the house to get changed for "none of your business" had been priceless.

The sun was shining and there was barely a cloud in sight. It was even warmer than usual and Yoko was comfortably wearing her warrior uniform. She walked over to the one the shops and decided to treat herself to some tempura. It was a day off, after all. Biting down on some shrimp, she decided couldn't have enjoyed her day off any more.

Giggles traveling down the street snapped her out of her happy food thoughts. Squinting, she saw some of the warriors huddled behind a building corner looking at something. For warriors trained for years in the ancient art of stealth, they really did not use it when it actually mattered.

Wiping her hands on the tempura wrapper and throwing the rest away, she tiptoed up behind the pack of girls, close enough to breathe on their necks.

"Look at them," Nao sniffed disdainfully. "They're sooo cute."

Misa nodded. "Ugh. They're _feeding_ each other. So gross."

"How does Karin get a boyfriend and not us?" Sakura sighed. "So not fair."

"Maybe if you guys would shut up every once and a while, you might," Yoko said, right in Sakura's ear. She jumped a good meter into the air before whiling around to see Yoko. All the girls turned to look as well.

"Really girls?" Yoko said, continuing," We're elite warriors. You'd think you all could hide a bit better than this," Yoko said half smiling.

"Oh, hey, Yoko. I thought you were Suki for a second," Jin-Jing said smiling back.

"Who are you guys watching?" Yoko peeked past the corner and towards a food cart filled with pastries. Karin and a boy were standing there, feeding each other bites of a cream puff. The boy turned around and Yoko frowned. The boy was Maru.

"Since when is Karin seeing my brother?"

Jin-Jing blinked, confused. "You didn't know that? They've been together a year…"

"What?! And you didn't tell me this?"

"We thought you knew," Bunko said, still watching the couple hungrily like a wolfbat looks at meat.

"So you're gossiping about my brother and one of my friends dating and I don't know about it? You jealous of their awesomeness? If you're complaining so much about their relationship, why are you _still watching them?_" She straightened herself up and started walking toward the stand. This was complete nonsense. The girls just stared at her.

"Where are you going?"

She didn't answer.

Casually walking up to the couple feasting on sweets, Yoko made sure her face wasn't seen. Waiting for her moment, she saw Maru lean forward, ready to wipe some custard off of Karin's face. Walking past them, she "accidentally" got her foot tangled up in Maru's and her brother tripped forward. His face heading straight to Karin's…

Their faces landed in a kiss. Both their faces turned red as their faces remained glued to eachother's. After the shock had worn off, the two love birds continued kissing, with more than just dessert in their mouths.

Strangled screams came from the corner were the girls were hiding, followed almost immediately with equally loud hushes.

Karin and Maru turned, frowning (the blush receding from their cheeks) towards the noise.

"Noa? Sakura? What are you all doing here?"

Yoko was already walking away. Served them right for not telling her about her brother earlier. They really needed a better hobby. Her stomach growled and Yoko groaned. Then again, eating tempura was so much more interesting. She could eat some more while thinking about more awesome hobbies she could interest her peers in. Fishing sounded like a good one…

* * *

Suki let a sigh of relief escape her as the boat made its way back into port. The waves had been icy and the boat had rocked unmercifully. It wasn't the boat, however, that was the bad part. It was the constant smell of fish that she hated the most. It made her eyes water and it made her want to vomit. She was ready to get off the boat.

"That oughta do it," her father said, dropping anchor and tying the boat up to the dock.

"Great," Suki said, stomping towards the side of the boat. She was ready to get off.

"Come sit down, with your parents, Suki. We want to talk to you."

Suki looked clearly irritated, her mother noticed, but she plopped down onto one of the empty crates across from her parents anyway.

"Suki," said her mother, beginning after a look from her father, "We know that you hate fishing. We just wanted to talk to you and there was no better way to say it."

"We know that you're a capable warrior," her father continued, "you've certainly proved yourself enough times."

"So we're sorry if we come across as pushy, it's just because we love you."

"And we were thinking about giving you some freedom. I know you've complained about your bedroom before and we were wondering…well, you've grown up so much…"

"We were wondering if you wanted to move out and into the dojo?" her mother asked, smiling sadly. "You're growing up and we know that you don't like fish."

Suki looked at her parents. She smiled widely. "You would do that for me?"

"Already have," her father said, stuffing a hand in his pocket. "We already got the key from Oyaji. We just wanted it to be a surprise for you."

Suki looked down at the key and then back up to her parents. Her heart jumped and her happiness turned liquid and started to run down her cheeks. It made her forget the fishing entirely. Then, quite unexpectedly, she ran over to them and gave them huge hugs. "Thank you, Mom and Dad!"

Her father chuckled. "Anything to make my girl happy."

Her mother nodded, tears streaming down her cheeks as well. "You've grown up."

Suki let go of the hug and wiped her wet face on her sleeve. Warriors didn't cry, after all. "Thanks," she said again.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw movement in the sky. A cloud? Looking up, she saw a flying… creature, heading towards the island. Her eyes narrowed and her parents looked at her.

"What did you see?"

"Intruders," Suki replied.

Her father beamed and he laughed a full belly laugh, "Got get them, tigerdillo. Show them who should be messing with the warriors of Kyoshi."

Suki grinned back and hopped off the boat, running to the village at full speed. Who could mess with the island of Kyoshi?

* * *

Another fire ball shot past Sensu's platoon, leaving a large burning crater in the ground. The ground shook from the impact, but he held steady. This wasn't the first time he and his division had seen action and it certainly would not be the last time either.

Protecting his face with his shield from a blast of fire from a fire bender, he tried to swing his hammer at the bender's unprotected side. The hit struck with a satisfying crunch and the man fell to the ground with a grunt.

Sensu winced. Though it was much easier than it hade been before, it was still really hard to harm another man. But he knew that he had to. He had people he needed to protect. His mother, his father, Lee. Among the other faces he thought of Chin-Mae's face floated to the forefront of his thoughts. How he would hate it if anything happened to him. He was his oldest friend in the army. He was eccentric, yes, Sensu conceded, but he was loyal and tough as nails. Chin-Mae had been the man to help push for his promotion, though he had never gotten it.

Looking over at his friend, he watched him wield the katana, jumping over Fire Nation Soldiers like they were ants and defeating them with his sword like they were straw dummies. Sensu still didn't understand how such a skilled swordsman was just a foot soldier. He had once brought it up with Chin-Mae, but his odd friend had ignored the question and had immediately changed the subject. Sensu suspected that Chin-mae hadn't been old enough to join the army when he had (he had been and still was rather small) and had only been able to make foot soldier without further investigation. Sensu, though he was raised in the middle of nowhere, was not stupid. Skill like that was rare indeed.

Buckling against another blast of fire, he charged forward and slammed the bender in the face with the shield. The woman did not crumple, however, and Sensu started to fight her close quarters. _Fire Nation,_ he frowned, disapprovingly. What kind of government were they, forcing women to do men's work? However, this fighter was a tough opponent. She dodged every swing of his hammer while expertly shooting fire out of her fingertips. Despite himself, he was reminded of Chin-Mae's fighting. He was small and used the fighter's strengths against himself. Chin-Mae was a puzzle. Even though he had known him for three years, Chin-Mae's voice hadn't changed, nor his inability to shave. The other men the platoon made fun of him about that. Sensu had shrugged it off as Chin-Mae's age, but now, watching the female firebender, he wasn't too sure.

Finally, he landed a hit on the tiring fire bender and she fell over too. Taking one last glance at the young woman's face and holding back any sadness he had, he tried to continue focusing on fighting but he could not. Watching Chin-Mae fight he frowned. He was awfully small…

Sensu had noticed some oddities about Chin-Mae. Like how he refused to use the restroom in front of the others or how he bathed awfully early in the morning. Like how he was over enthusiastic to spit, belch or fart in front of the other soldiers or how he purposely lowered his voice…well, Sensu was a lot smarter than he looked.

Sensu looked over at Chin-Mae again. He looked back at him, smirking. His face clearly said that he was enjoying the rush that came with the battle. Now that Sensu thought about it, Chin-Mae's lips were quite rosy for a man's. But those lips changed and his eyes widened into panic as he looked at Sensu. He started sprinting and the leapt in front of Sensu.

By then he had seen the arrow. He watched as the world moved in slow motion as it slowly was stopped by Chin-Mae. He watched him start to fall. Diving as well, he caught his friend, his hands grasped firmly around his chest.

Feeling some things, Sensu turned pale. How had he been fooled that long?

Carefully laying down Chin-Mae, he examined the injury. The arrow had stuck deep. Chin-Mae needed to see a medic if he would have any chance.

Draping his oldest friend over his shoulder, he started to retreat and look for a medic. If he took too long, Chin-Mae didn't have a chance.

But what chance would the dying woman have if she was found out? Sensu knew the consequences of a woman joining the army…

* * *

"Why, that is most curious, indeed," Oyaji said, watching the young man sitting on the examination table. "Does he do this every time?"

"So far as I've seen," the healer replied. "We have no idea what causes these… reactions, either. Perhaps something spiritual?"

Oyaji looked the patient up and down. He had little experience when it came to the spirits and the Spirit World, but he was not going to pass up an opportunity to impress the village healer. After Chuntao and the council had stopped pressuring Oyaji so much, he had come to realize that his job as village leader was quite enjoyable. So instead of admitting that he did not know, he decided to fake it. He hoped the healer would be impressed with his knowledge. He was, after all, and old, lonely man.

"Let me see again," Oyaji said, walking over to the brown haired youth, staring him straight in the eye. "Young man, what if I told you that the long lost airbending Avatar was standing outside this door way?"

The change in the young man's face was instant. His pupils dilated and his face contorted into an expression of infinite glee. He started to wail happily, his grin growing wider and wider. Foam started to bubble out of his mouth.

"Great," the healer said, her arms crossed, "Now how do we get him to stop."

"Hmm…" Oyaji said, pretending to look the obsessive young man over, "Well, I don't think that it's a spiritual problem."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Young man," He said, turning to the youth, "I'm sorry, I lied. The Avatar is not here."

Just like magic, the squealing stopped and the young man looked down ashamed.

Oyaji looked at the healer, "What now?"

She shrugged. "Let him go, I guess. He's not a harm to anyone."

There was a frantic knock on the door.

"Come in," the healer said.

Suki in full armor and make up entered. "Oyaji, healer." She bowed.

They retuned the formality.

"I have some startling news. It appears we have caught some intruders bathing in the Unagi bay. We wanted you to speak to them."

Oyaji looked at Suki. "Pray tell, who are these intruders."

"There are two water tribe children -one male and one female- accompanied by a flying lemur. But they are not the most interesting of our trespassers."

"Yes?"

"It appears we have captured an Air Nomad."

* * *

AN: And we finally make it up to canon. I'm not too sure about this chapter, either. It's hard to tell stories that aren't about fighting, but I hope I did okay. I also changed the rating to "T" because of the war violence in this chapter. Thank you to bluestargirl1 for requesting I show Suki's parents.

Next time on Daughters of Kyoshi: the final chapter! Stay tuned.


	9. Red Sky

Red Sky

Disclaimer: Avatar: The Last Airbender belongs to Mike, Bryan and Nickelodeon

Oyaji watched the green backs of the warriors slowly walk down the path toward the port. They were leaving to help with the war effort.

The village had been left in ruins after that Fire Nation ship had attacked. Houses had burnt down and shops destroyed and the once proud standing statue of Kyoshi had been blackened to a unrecognizable state. But the most affected were the people in Kyoshi. There was a fear in their eyes that had not been there before. Kyoshi had decided to stay neutral in the war when the attack had happened. If the Fire Nation did this to bystanders, Oyaji could only imagine what happened to the Earth Kingdom soldiers.

But, as shaken as the civilians were, no one was as shocked as the Kyoshi warriors. Oyaji watched as the defeated girls realized the real danger the outside world faced. Yes, the Avatar had protected them and yes, they had fought successfully and had rid the island of the Fire Nation, but that was not enough for the girls anymore. They needed more. They needed to be challenged. They needed to be a help. And, according to Suki, the Earth Kingdom needed the daughters of Kyoshi much more than Kyoshi did.

Oyaji didn't argue. He had been waiting for the day when the girls would say just that. Takeshi and her warriors and Ayame had left because of those reasons too. He was thankful, even, that they were leaving as warriors instead of men. They had some protection. They had each other. And, Oyaji thought sadly, he couldn't have stopped them from leaving if he had wanted to. They could at least disappear with his blessing.

The Avatar and his friends had moved the warriors, Oyaji decided, as he walked down the road towards the dojo. Slowly opening the door, he looked in. It was clean, but he knew that within a few weeks the dojo would become unbearably dusty. All the training equipment put away properly. But he knew that the locker room was bare. The girls had taken all the weapons they could and it showed.

There was a small knock at the door behind him. He turned around and saw Maru with a messenger's bag with what Oyaji knew to be the mail. He was fingering a very official-looking scroll and was looking at Oyaji expectantly.

"Yes, Maru?"

The young man walked into the dojo and handed Oyaji the scroll. "A letter from the army, sir. It's addressed to you and Suki."

Oyaji took it and saw the official looking seal and felt the strong, expensive paper it was written on. "Thank you, Maru. I'll be sure to read it."

"Is it true?" Maru asked suddenly. "They really decided to leave, then?

"Yes, I'm sorry Maru. They decided their destinies were elsewhere and they wished to pursue them."

Maru nodded and bowed. He turned to leave and Oyaji heard him mumble under his breath.

"She didn't say good bye."

Oyaji left the youth alone in silence. Walking into the locker room and sitting on the bench, Oyaji looked at the outside of the scroll once again.

It was signed "From, Ayame".

Taking a deep breath, the village leader unrolled it and started to read, already dreading the ending. He finished within minutes and just stared at the scroll for a few minutes.

It had been addressed to Suki too. And it couldn't have been ten minutes after the warriors had left for the port. Could he get the letter to her in time to read it before her boat left? Carefully rolling it back up, he stuffed it carefully in his robes, as if guarding it like a secret.

When she returns from the war, Oyaji decided. He would show it to her in time.

* * *

Suki watched from the deck of the ship as the island of Kyoshi grew smaller and smaller in the distance. Suki shivered in anticipation. She had never been this far from home before. Every centimeter she moved away from the island was like a whole new adventure.

The boat they were on was for the Earth Kingdom military to shuttle new recruits to training near Ba Sing Se. The officers commanding the boat had been…reluctant at first to bring girls aboard, but after a little persuasion from the warriors (that had resulted in two bloody noses and a dislocated leg), the girls were welcomed aboard like long-lost kin. Suki wondered if this had been the boat Ayame had went on a few years ago when she had left for training.

Suki watched as the sky turned a deep red as the sun began to set. "Red sky at night, sailor's delight," her father had told her when she was little, "Red sky in the morning is a sailor's warning." He had been telling her how he knew when not to take his fishing boat out in the morning. Suki had thought that saying was just an old wives' tale, but now she didn't know. Could it be a good omen?

Looking back again behind her, all she saw of the Island of Kyoshi was a small green speck on the darkening horizon. It looked so peaceful from where she was all those kilometers away. It was her home. She hoped it would remain safe in her absence. But she needed leave. She needed to prevent another village becoming destroyed from the Fire Nation. And if by leaving her home for the first time was the way to do it, she would make sure she allowed others a home to return to.

And so, off they were sailing towards Ba Sing Se. She had heard form the captain that that was where all the refugees were headed. The last stronghold of the Earth Kingdom, he called it. Suki hoped for the world's sake he was wrong. The Avatar had returned.

Suki smiled as she thought of the Avatar and his friends. He was young, yes, but so were his companions. And if Suki was sure of one thing, it was that Sokka would make sure that Aang was kept in line. Sokka would become a capable warrior, the way he had learned so fast from her, she was certain. She thought about how he had even gotten a few hits on her when they were sparring. Suki smiled again, remembering how excited he had been. That Water Tribe boy had grown on her…

Suki shivered as a cold winter breeze gnawed at her bones. She considered getting her cloak but she didn't get up to go retrieve it. Spring was coming soon.

* * *

AN: I know it's short, but I think it summed up the story perfectly. Thanks for reading.


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